Every planet in our solar system has quirks, but Uranus seems to have more than its fair share. For one thing, it rotates on its side because its axis is 98 degrees from vertical. It basically rolls drunkenly around the sun, and this unusual configuration means that its poles go through 42-year periods of light and darkness. The planet’s magnetic field is another oddity.
Compasses work on Earth because our magnetic field more or less lines up with our axis of rotation—geomagnetic north happens to be fairly close to the physical north pole (most of the time it’s only off by about 10 degrees). But…
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