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21-year-long, dark winter
- For nearly a quarter of each Uranian year, the Sun shines directly over each pole, plunging the other half of the planet into a 21-year-long, dark winter.
science.nasa.gov/uranus/facts/
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Uranus is a very cold and windy world. The ice giant is surrounded by 13 faint rings and 28 small moons. Uranus rotates at a nearly 90-degree angle from the plane of its orbit. This unique tilt makes Uranus appear to spin sideways, orbiting the Sun like a rolling ball.
- In Depth | Uranus – NASA Solar System Exploration
For nearly a quarter of each Uranian year, the Sun shines...
- In Depth | Uranus – NASA Solar System Exploration
- Strange Seasons of Uranus
- Extreme Tilt Means Extreme Seasons
- What We See from Earth and Spacecraft
- Following Seasonal Changes from Earth
Uranus has bizarre seasons, at least from our earthly perspective. As we explore distant exoplanets – or think about moons or rocky asteroids in this solar system – who knows what range of differences we’ll find? But for the moment we do know this. Uranus has unusual seasons, in contrast to Earth and the other major known planets. It’s because Uran...
So think about how Uranus’ tilt affects its seasons, in contrast to earthly seasons. Here’s one difference. Earth’s tilt means our north and south polar regions have a midnight sun in summer and a long polar nightin winter. Since Earth’s axis tilt is relatively small, those dark and bright times at Earth’s poles affect a relatively small part of ou...
The extreme seasonal changes cause dramatic shifts in Uranus’ cloud patterns. Earth- and space-based observatories have observed this change over decades of Uranus-watching. The Voyager 2 spacecraft is the only craft from Earth that has ever flown past Uranus. That was in 1986. Voyager 2 encountered this world during its southern hemisphere summer....
Around that time, Earth- and space-based telescopes revealed more clouds in the atmosphere of Uranus. Bands encircling the planet changed in size and brightness as sunlight struck parts of the planet for the first time in decades. Plus, a dark spot appeared – and more bright spots – which observers were able to follow for years. What more will we s...
Near the summer and winter solstices, Uranus's hemispheres lie alternately either in full glare of the Sun's rays or facing deep space. The brightening of the sunlit hemisphere is thought to result from the local thickening of the methane clouds and haze layers located in the troposphere . [ 8 ]
Near the summer and winter solstices, Uranus's hemispheres lie alternately either in full glare of the Sun's rays or facing deep space. The brightening of the sunlit hemisphere is thought to result from the local thickening of the methane clouds and haze layers located in the troposphere. [ 120 ]
Oct 8, 2008 · And when it’s tilted away from the Sun, that’s winter for the northern hemisphere. But on Uranus, one hemisphere is pointed towards the Sun, and the other is pointed away.
For nearly a quarter of each Uranian year, the Sun shines directly over each pole, plunging the other half of the planet into a 21-year-long, dark winter. Uranus is also one of just two planets that rotate in the opposite direction than most of the planets (Venus is the other one), from east to west.
Uranus is a very cold and windy planet. It is surrounded by faint rings, and more than two dozen small moons as it rotates at a nearly 90-degree angle from the plane of its orbit. This unique tilt makes Uranus appear to spin on its side.
