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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
by 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 agoSorry, 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 agoMaybe 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 agoFrom 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.