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I’m wondering why it doesn’t look very round, like the picture is somehow distorted? For the rings, I think it’s that a picture of a ringed planet is usually r

I’m wondering why it doesn’t look very round, like the picture is somehow distorted? For the rings, I think it’s that a picture of a ringed planet is usually rotated ninety degrees so the longer axis points sideways.

krylon 4y ago
Maybe it's an optical illusion? When I look closely, the planet looks pretty round to me. The rings around it or the color gradient of the planet may affect the perception of its shape.
ProAm 4y ago
The angle of the rings are making it appear not round, it's a circle. I do not understand your comment about the rings? Uranus is tilted almost 90 degrees off typical axis
tejtm 4y ago
Evidence of extreme rearrangement in early solar system history, it is spinning sideways as compared to the ecliptic (the plane the solar system is on). There is suspicion the planets were not always in the same order they are in today.
- SoftTalker 4y ago
  I think it's more than "suspicion"
  - MoSattler 4y ago
    where can I read more about this?
    - vikingerik 4y ago
      Here, and there are several related articles and theories linked from it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping-Jupiter_scenario https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping-Jupiter_scenario
      - WakoMan12 4y ago
        [flagged]
Sharlin 4y ago
Pictures of ringed planets are not usually rotated any more than this picture is. (Solar system pictures are typically rotated so that "up" is perpendicular to the ecliptic.) It's just that Saturn's (and Neptune's) axial tilt is fairly moderate (27° and 28° respectively) while Uranus is unique in having a tilt of almost 100°.
vikingerik 4y ago
The planet doesn't look round for two reasons. One is that the rings aren't circular in the picture, because they're slightly oblique to the viewpoint, but your brain expects to see round circles, so it compensates by distorting your perception of the planet relative to the rings. Two is the planet actually isn't round, because of its equatorial bulge, which in this image is slightly more in the up-down direction than left-right, because of the obliquity of the viewpoint. This effect is in the same direction as the rings perception effect and stacks with it.

krylon 4y ago

Maybe it's an optical illusion? When I look closely, the planet looks pretty round to me. The rings around it or the color gradient of the planet may affect the perception of its shape.

ProAm 4y ago

The angle of the rings are making it appear not round, it's a circle. I do not understand your comment about the rings? Uranus is tilted almost 90 degrees off typical axis

tejtm 4y ago

Evidence of extreme rearrangement in early solar system history, it is spinning sideways as compared to the ecliptic (the plane the solar system is on). There is suspicion the planets were not always in the same order they are in today.

SoftTalker 4y ago
I think it's more than "suspicion"
- MoSattler 4y ago
  where can I read more about this?
  - vikingerik 4y ago
    Here, and there are several related articles and theories linked from it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping-Jupiter_scenario https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping-Jupiter_scenario
    - WakoMan12 4y ago
      [flagged]

Sharlin 4y ago

Pictures of ringed planets are not usually rotated any more than this picture is. (Solar system pictures are typically rotated so that "up" is perpendicular to the ecliptic.) It's just that Saturn's (and Neptune's) axial tilt is fairly moderate (27° and 28° respectively) while Uranus is unique in having a tilt of almost 100°.

vikingerik 4y ago

The planet doesn't look round for two reasons. One is that the rings aren't circular in the picture, because they're slightly oblique to the viewpoint, but your brain expects to see round circles, so it compensates by distorting your perception of the planet relative to the rings. Two is the planet actually isn't round, because of its equatorial bulge, which in this image is slightly more in the up-down direction than left-right, because of the obliquity of the viewpoint. This effect is in the same direction as the rings perception effect and stacks with it.