news:PtOdnXbcNbxotuPX...@giganews.com...
Most of the planets spin on an axis nearly perpendicular to the plane of the
ecliptic but Uranus' axis is almost parallel to the ecliptic. At the time of
Voyager 2's passage, Uranus' south pole was pointed almost directly at the
Sun. This results in the odd fact that Uranus' polar regions receive more
energy input from the Sun than do its equatorial regions. Uranus is
nevertheless hotter at its equator than at its poles. The mechanism
underlying this is unknown.