Its bland exterior belies a dynamic world full of surprises
Shi En Kim Reporter Let's get this out of the way—any scientist studying Uranus will tell you that they're tired of the planet being the butt of your jokes. "I've heard them all. I know them all," says Heidi Hammel, a planetary astronomer at the nonprofit Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. In her experience, the gluteal reference in Uranus' name makes it hard for her and others to have their work taken seriously outside the scientific community. That's too bad, because Uranus is a dynamic planet worthy of attention. Uranus belongs to the class of planets called ice giants; these worlds have thick, gassy shells and innards that are made up of icy material squeezed beyond recognition. Even among its kind, Uranus is a strange planet, given its tilted configuration, its flagging internal heat and its squishable magnetic shield. To date, only one spacecraft, Voyager 2, has dropped by Uranus, and it was only able to examine the world up close for 5.5 hours as it flew past in 1986. In 2022, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine declared a dedicated orbiter to Uranus to be a top scientific priority for the next decade. Even before such a mission gets off the ground, scientists are busy studying the planet by revisiting the trove of Voyager 2 data and examining new Uranian observations from Earth-based telescopes. Nearly 40 years later, new findings are still emerging, rewriting what we know of Uranus. Even so, these discoveries are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to understanding the inner workings of the seventh planet. Here are the top discoveries that scientists have made of Uranus so far. Uranus is a planet knocked sideways Like Humpty Dumpty, once upon a time Uranus had a great fall. It never got back up again, as far as scientists can tell—the planet's defining feature is its rotational tilt of 98 degrees. That means, for a quarter of its orbital period, one of its geographic poles faces the sun's glare…