Editing Umbriel (section)

== Exploration ==
[[File:Voyager_spacecraft.jpg|thumb|The ''Voyager 2'' spacecraft]]
{{Further|Exploration of Uranus}}

The only close-up images of Umbriel have been from the ''[[Voyager 2]]'' probe, which photographed the moon during its flyby of Uranus in January 1986. Since the closest distance between ''Voyager 2'' and Umbriel was {{convert|325000|km|mi|abbr=on}},<ref name="Stone 1987" /> the best images of this moon have a spatial resolution of about 5.2&nbsp;km.<ref name="Plescia 1987" /> The images cover about 40% of the surface, but only 20% was photographed with enough quality for [[geological mapping]].<ref name="Plescia 1987" /> At the time of the flyby the southern hemisphere of Umbriel (like those of the other moons) was pointed towards the Sun, so the northern (dark) hemisphere could not be studied.<ref name="Smith Soderblom et al. 1986" />