Uranus Rotates On 2 Poles? | Learn About Its Movements

  • Thread starter Thread starter Timoothy
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Uranus
AI Thread Summary
Uranus rotates on its side relative to the sun, but it does not rotate on two separate poles. Its rotational axis remains perpendicular to its orbit, meaning that it maintains a consistent orientation throughout its revolution around the sun. Consequently, if Uranus has a pole star, it will point to that star for the entire year, similar to Earth's relationship with its pole star. The discussion clarifies that while both poles face the sun at different times during its orbit, the rotational axis itself does not change. Understanding this distinction is crucial for grasping Uranus's unique movement.
Timoothy
Messages
33
Reaction score
0
Uranus is said to rotate on its side relative to the sun, and it also moves in such a way that both its poles (north an south) take turns facing the sun during its orbit, so does Uranus rotate on two separate poles?
 
Astronomy news on Phys.org
Timoothy said:
Uranus is said to rotate on its side relative to the sun, and it also moves in such a way that both its poles (north an south) take turns facing the sun during its orbit, so does Uranus rotate on two separate poles?

No. Its rotational axis is perpendicular to its revolution about the sun.

As it revolves around the sun, its rotational axis does not change orientation; i.e. if Uranus has a Pole star (its rotational axis pointing at one star), then that will be its pole star throughout its year (just like with Earth).
 
DaveC426913 said:
As it revolves around the sun, its rotational axis does not change orientation; i.e. if Uranus has a Pole star (its rotational axis pointing at one star), then that will be its pole star throughout its year (just like with Earth).

Thanks for the correct information, I "get-it" now, and below is a "png" of what you described.


http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~barnes/ast110_06/quizzes/disc02_fig01.png
 
Last edited:
Is a homemade radio telescope realistic? There seems to be a confluence of multiple technologies that makes the situation better than when I was a wee lad: software-defined radio (SDR), the easy availability of satellite dishes, surveillance drives, and fast CPUs. Let's take a step back - it is trivial to see the sun in radio. An old analog TV, a set of "rabbit ears" antenna, and you're good to go. Point the antenna at the sun (i.e. the ears are perpendicular to it) and there is...
This thread is dedicated to the beauty and awesomeness of our Universe. If you feel like it, please share video clips and photos (or nice animations) of space and objects in space in this thread. Your posts, clips and photos may by all means include scientific information; that does not make it less beautiful to me (n.b. the posts must of course comply with the PF guidelines, i.e. regarding science, only mainstream science is allowed, fringe/pseudoscience is not allowed). n.b. I start this...
Back
Top