Why is Uranus On Its Side? | The Planets | Earth Science

Venus and Uranus are the only planets to spin the opposite way to the rest of the planets.

The Planets (2019)
This stunningly ambitious series brings to life the most memorable events in the history of the solar system, by using ground-breaking visual effects to tell the thrilling story of all eight planets. Transporting you to the surface of these dynamic worlds to witness the moments of high drama that shaped each one, The Planets reveals how the latest science allows us to unlock their past lives. It pieces together clues of magnificent lost waterfalls on Mars, the mass planetary migrations as they jostled for position early in their history, and even the distant fate of Saturn as one of its moons awakens to form a beautiful water world.

[bobbyd.roberson]

An impactful event early in life leading to being sideways and cold inside? I can relate, Uranus.

[Mysicalgreenunicorn]

People keep saying Uranus is boring. But I think it’s so beautiful in its simplicity. Calming

[JTelli]

We’ve had dedicated missions to Jupiter and Saturn, I sincerely hope that one day we get dedicated missions to Uranus and Neptune.

[aacmbirdzilla]

I find ironic and kinda poetic that the second nearest planet to the sun is the hottest, and the second last is the coldest, yet those two, are the only ones with a different rotation orientation than the other planets

[miccrhaafetl]

As my Astro professor use to say. If you have a question about why a planet or moon is doing something weird, 99% of the time it's from an impactful event. She wasn't wrong.

[autumnstar]

I came straight to the comments because I know Uranus is always the butt of jokes. You guys never disappoint. Unfortunately this is what happens when something smashes into Uranus, it gets tilted in its side.

[LiquidShadows]

"Why is Uranus on its side?"
Uhhh...because I'm laying down?

Jokes aside, this is beautiful. I've always had an odd fascination with Uranus and Neptune, probably because they're so far away and we know so little about them compared to planets like Jupiter and Saturn.

[eaux_]

“Uranus is an entirely new class of planet.” Yes. Yes it is.

[marios.sanchez]

Uranus is kind of my favorite planet because of all the differences from other planets such as rolling on it`s side and being the coldest and spinning in the opposite direction of the rest of the planets🧐

[CringerKitty]

Zachary Quinto is the perfect narrator for these videos, and the animation is always very well done.

[TheNobbynoonar]

If there is not enough heat on Uranus to drive the storms like those seen on Jupiter and Saturn, how is it that Neptune, which is the farthest planet from the Sun, has large storms and 1000mph winds?

[dennisquinn]

Came for the Uranus jokes. Stayed for the fascinating analysis.

[mcgoo]

People always say uranus and neptune are boring but I find them hauntingly beautiful.

[knightryder]

After reading the title I had to sit up straight 😂

[christopherjohnson]

As far as Venus' retrograde rotation goes I think the clue there is in how slow it rotates. I think early on there was a collision that caused it to rotate backwards and slowly, over time, that rotation is slowing and being pulled towards a "normal" rotation in the direction of its orbit.

[OGSontar]

Here's a question I have never heard answered. What stopped Uranus' roll? So, a collision likely knocked it on its side, but...why did it stop? It's not flat on the bottom, there's no invisible table underneath it for it to thump on and stop, no friction, no anything to keep that new motion from continuing to keep Uranus flipping end over end.
And isn't momentum conserved? If something _did_ stop it, where did that enormous energy go? Enough energy to knock a planet of that size and mass over on its side is mindboggling. Seems like there's some serious questions a single impact doesn't really cover.
Was it torque from Uranus' original rotation that stopped it? That's still a lot of energy unaccounted for, it would seem.

[goofygoobers]

0:22 "voyager sensors reveal why uranus is so featureless"

this make me laugh so hard 😂

[paulgibbon]

One thing nobody ever mentions about Uranus is how much the poles look like gigantic terrifying eyes.

[YEdwardP]

I used to watch documentaries and read books about the planets and space when I was a child back in the 90s. Decades later, the novelty and magic has rather growth thin. Not gonna lie, this documentary hasn't really rekindled the flame.

But, what warms my heart now is knowing that there are children out there who are discovering about the planets for the first time watching videos like this. For whom this is all new and exciting. Where the aethereal music floats like whispers of secrets not yet revealed.

[Hokunin]

Uranus is not only big and full of gas, it also has the place where the Sun never shines - cuz the dark side doesn't turn towards the sun.