Did You Know?
Summer on Uranus lasts one long day, which is equivalent to 42 Earth years.
Uranus is one of the strangest planets in the Solar System. Something huge smashed into the planet billions of years ago and knocked it over on its side. While the other planets look like spinning tops as they make their journey around the Sun, Uranus is flipped on its side, and appears to be rolling around the Sun. And this has a dramatic effect on the seasons on Uranus.
The Earth’s tilt gives us our seasons. When the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun, that’s summer. 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. The position of the poles slowly reverse until, half a Uranian year later, it’s the opposite situation. In other words, summer for the northern hemisphere lasts 42 years long, followed by 42 years of winter.
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