Are planets,when they get formed,at a zero angle by default?
If that`s true what causes the different tilts with different planets and what`s so special about Uranus that it is is titled completely to it`s side?
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A young solar system is a chaotic place, with all these forming planets sucking up dust and debris in the accretion disk until they’re massive enough to start pulling on eachother’s orbits.
Then you get a period of protoplanetary demolition derby, with these new planets in unstable orbits tossing eachother around. Sometimes you get a collision of unimaginable magnitude when two full-sized planets ram into eachother.
Earth’s moon is believed to have been formed in one of these impacts that peeled Earth like a potato.
Uranus likely got clocked sideways from another such impact. The planet’s interior is also unusually cold, suggesting it may have lost a lot of internal heat from the splattering.
Eventually all the interfering orbits are eliminated, and all the planets are in stable orbits or obliterated.
It just looks fabulous tilted on its side like that. Gives it flair.
The other poster here made a great point about Uranus. It’s not even remotely close to spinning the right way. It barrel rolls around the solar system.
Though get this: Our solar system is actually tiled up sideways compared with the rest of the galaxy. That makes Uranus spinning at an angle I’m too tired to figure out.
As to why: We still don’t actually know. Really. Its most likely collisions as the other poster said. Other star systems can come in at all sorts of ridiculous angles though so its by far the best theory. You’re right to think its weird.
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