Program: GN-2012B-Q-114

This program aims to investigate the nature of the mechanisms that drive the elevated temperatures of the upper atmospheres of Uranus, by exploiting both recent results and the planets intrinsic geometrical and magnetospheric configuration. The temperature has perviously been observed to cool between 1992 and 2008, and we expected the planet to heat up again after 2007 Equinox. Instead, surprisingly, in 2011 it was observed to continue to cool. This poses questions to what drives the temperature of the upper atmosphere, and by observing Uranus in late 2012 we can address these. In addition, continuing the long-term monitoring of Uranus' upper atmosphere will shed considerably insight to the thermal drivers of this poorly understood planet.