Mondo Knows Facts
Uranus rotates almost entirely on its side
An axial tilt of 98 degrees causes extreme seasons lasting over 20 years
Uranus has an axial tilt of about 98 degrees, meaning it rotates almost perpendicular to its orbital plane around the Sun. Scientists suspect a massive collision with an Earth-sized protoplanet early in solar system history knocked the ice giant sideways, producing extreme 21-year-long seasons.
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Tags: uranus, rotation, tilt
Uranus rotates almost entirely on its side: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- An axial tilt of 98 degrees causes extreme seasons lasting over 20 years. The figure is taken from ESA, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
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- Yes. It sits on the Space shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
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