News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Uranus (NIRCam Image) by skybrian on Thursday April 06, 2023 @03:37PM (#35473317)
I’m wondering why it doesn’t look very round, like the picture is somehow distorted?

For the rings, I think it’s that a picture of a ringed planet is usually rotated ninety degrees so the longer axis points sideways.

Re:Uranus (NIRCam Image) by krylon on Thursday April 06, 2023 @03:45PM (#35473391)
Maybe it's an optical illusion? When I look closely, the planet looks pretty round to me. The rings around it or the color gradient of the planet may affect the perception of its shape.
Re:Uranus (NIRCam Image) by ProAm on Thursday April 06, 2023 @03:48PM (#35473443)
The angle of the rings are making it appear not round, it's a circle.

I do not understand your comment about the rings? Uranus is tilted almost 90 degrees off typical axis

Re:Uranus (NIRCam Image) by tejtm on Thursday April 06, 2023 @04:02PM (#35473597)
Evidence of extreme rearrangement in early solar system history, it is spinning sideways as compared to the ecliptic (the plane the solar system is on).

There is suspicion the planets were not always in the same order they are in today.

Re:Uranus (NIRCam Image) by SoftTalker on Thursday April 06, 2023 @04:32PM (#35473996)
I think it's more than "suspicion"
Re:Uranus (NIRCam Image) by MoSattler on Thursday April 06, 2023 @04:57PM (#35474321)
where can I read more about this?
Re:Uranus (NIRCam Image) by vikingerik on Thursday April 06, 2023 @05:01PM (#35474383)
Here, and there are several related articles and theories linked from it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping-Jupiter_scenario
Re:Uranus (NIRCam Image) by WakoMan12 on Thursday April 06, 2023 @05:23PM (#35474679)
dont make me tickle your toes Jeremy
Re:Uranus (NIRCam Image) by Sharlin on Thursday April 06, 2023 @04:19PM (#35473823)
Pictures of ringed planets are not usually rotated any more than this picture is. (Solar system pictures are typically rotated so that "up" is perpendicular to the ecliptic.) It's just that Saturn's (and Neptune's) axial tilt is fairly moderate (27° and 28° respectively) while Uranus is unique in having a tilt of almost 100°.
Re:Uranus (NIRCam Image) by vikingerik on Thursday April 06, 2023 @05:00PM (#35474362)
The planet doesn't look round for two reasons.

One is that the rings aren't circular in the picture, because they're slightly oblique to the viewpoint, but your brain expects to see round circles, so it compensates by distorting your perception of the planet relative to the rings.

Two is the planet actually isn't round, because of its equatorial bulge, which in this image is slightly more in the up-down direction than left-right, because of the obliquity of the viewpoint. This effect is in the same direction as the rings perception effect and stacks with it.