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Uranus is on its side. The moons orbits are on their side too, and do they also rotate on their sides, all with respect to the solar plane? The dance of the S

Uranus is on its side. The moons orbits are on their side too, and do they also rotate on their sides, all with respect to the solar plane? The dance of the Sun in the sky must be very exotic for the moon folk of that mini system.

bloopernova 3y ago
I think that due to angular momentum, they do all rotate aligned to the same plane.
- gorgoiler 3y ago
  The large moons have zero inclination with respect to Uranus’ equator but the smaller irregular moons are all over the place. Wikipedia has this nice graphic showing orbital distance (x), eccentricity (x error bar) orbit inclination (y), and moon size: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/TheIrregulars_URANUS.svg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/TheIrreg... The only thing missing from the graphic is each moons axial tilt with respect to either its orbit or the rest of the solar system.
  - inputError 3y ago
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- wyldfire 3y ago
  The ring plane is aligned with the solar planetary plane?
  - onetimeuse92304 3y ago
    No, not really. "aligned" would suggest some kind of connection. It is very likely a complete accident. Literally. It most likely that at some point Uranus was hit by a planet and the collision changed the spin axis. Must have been pretty early for everything else to be aligned with the new axis.
    - wyldfire 3y ago
      Sorry, I meant more something like "coincident" or "parallel". Probably a stupid question but how'd it get this vantage? Isn't JWST at a LaGrange point from Earth? Wouldn't that be on the same plane? I suppose it must not be in order to have taken this image.
      - pvg 3y ago
        Maybe you're missing the 'Uranus axis of rotation is super tilted' part? Its equatorial plane (along with its rings) is not at all 'parallel' to the ecliptic, that's what the toplevel comment is pointing out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus#Axial_tilt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus#Axial_tilt
        tomkat0789 3y ago
        From your link; “Near the solstice, one pole faces the Sun continuously and the other faces away, with only a narrow strip around the equator experiencing a rapid day–night cycle, with the Sun low over the horizon. On the other side of Uranus's orbit, the orientation of the poles towards the Sun is reversed. Each pole gets around 42 years of continuous sunlight, followed by 42 years of darkness.” Very different from Earth! Wow.
deleted 3y ago
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bloopernova 3y ago

I think that due to angular momentum, they do all rotate aligned to the same plane.

gorgoiler 3y ago
The large moons have zero inclination with respect to Uranus’ equator but the smaller irregular moons are all over the place. Wikipedia has this nice graphic showing orbital distance (x), eccentricity (x error bar) orbit inclination (y), and moon size: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/TheIrregulars_URANUS.svg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/TheIrreg... The only thing missing from the graphic is each moons axial tilt with respect to either its orbit or the rest of the solar system.
- inputError 3y ago
  [dead]
wyldfire 3y ago
The ring plane is aligned with the solar planetary plane?
- onetimeuse92304 3y ago
  No, not really. "aligned" would suggest some kind of connection. It is very likely a complete accident. Literally. It most likely that at some point Uranus was hit by a planet and the collision changed the spin axis. Must have been pretty early for everything else to be aligned with the new axis.
  - wyldfire 3y ago
    Sorry, I meant more something like "coincident" or "parallel". Probably a stupid question but how'd it get this vantage? Isn't JWST at a LaGrange point from Earth? Wouldn't that be on the same plane? I suppose it must not be in order to have taken this image.
    - pvg 3y ago
      Maybe you're missing the 'Uranus axis of rotation is super tilted' part? Its equatorial plane (along with its rings) is not at all 'parallel' to the ecliptic, that's what the toplevel comment is pointing out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus#Axial_tilt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus#Axial_tilt
      - tomkat0789 3y ago
        From your link; “Near the solstice, one pole faces the Sun continuously and the other faces away, with only a narrow strip around the equator experiencing a rapid day–night cycle, with the Sun low over the horizon. On the other side of Uranus's orbit, the orientation of the poles towards the Sun is reversed. Each pole gets around 42 years of continuous sunlight, followed by 42 years of darkness.” Very different from Earth! Wow.

deleted 3y ago

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