Series of bumps sent Uranus into its sideways spin

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Source:  Europlanet Press Notice EPSC11/13

Excerpt: Uranus’s highly tilted axis [98 degrees] makes it something of an oddball in our Solar System. The accepted wisdom is that Uranus was knocked on its side by a single large impact, but new research to be presented on Thursday 6th October at the EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting in Nantes rewrites our theories of how Uranus became so tilted and also solves fresh mysteries about the position and orbits of its moons. By using simulations of planetary formation and collisions, it appears that early in its life Uranus experienced a succession of small punches instead of a single knock-out blow. This research has important ramifications on our theories of giant planet formation.

 www.europlanet-eu.org/outreach/index.php

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