What is the approximate axial tilt of Uranus relative to its orbital plane?
Answer
About 98 degrees.
Uranus possesses an axial tilt of approximately 98 degrees when measured against the plane of its orbit around the Sun. This extreme angle means that the planet is essentially rolling around the Sun on its side, as its rotation axis is nearly parallel to its orbital path. This orientation is responsible for dramatically long and extreme seasons, where one pole can experience decades of constant sunlight while the opposite pole endures decades of complete darkness. While Uranus technically spins in the retrograde direction when viewed by the solar system standard, its defining rotational anomaly is this massive, near-sideways tilt.
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