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From: henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer)
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Re: Uranus's axis
Message-ID: <6385@utzoo.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 8-Feb-86 21:27:49 EST
Article-I.D.: utzoo.6385
Posted: Sat Feb  8 21:27:49 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 8-Feb-86 21:27:49 EST
References: <111@valid.UUCP>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
Lines: 13

> I know that Uranus's axis of rotation is tilted ~90 degrees from the
> normal, perpendicular-to-ecliptic axis.  This means that the axis
> lies in the plane of the ecliptic, but which way does it point?  
> Does it point at the sun, or is it tangent to the orbit, or some
> angle in between?

All of the above, depending on when you catch it.  The axis points in
a (roughly) fixed direction in space as the planet goes around the sun.
At the moment Uranus's south pole points roughly at the sun; half an
orbit later, the north pole will point at the sun.
-- 
				Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
				{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry