Exploration of Uranus cloud tops. This was the probe's first solo planetary flyby, since "Voyager 1" ended its tour of the outer planets at Saturn's moon Titan. Uranus is the third-largest planet in the Solar System. It orbits the Sun at a distance of about and completes one orbit every 84 years. The length of a day on Uranus as measured by "Voyager 2" is 17 hours and 14 minutes. Uranus is distinguished by the fact that it is tipped on its side. Its unusual position is thought to be the result of a collision with a planet-sized body early in the Solar
Climate of Uranus equinoxes. A similar periodic variation, with maxima at the solstices, has been noted in microwave measurements of the deep troposphere begun in the 1960s. Stratospheric temperature measurements beginning in the 1970s also showed maximum values near 1986 solstice. The majority of this variability is believed to occur due to changes in the viewing geometry. Uranus is an oblate spheroid, which causes its visible area to become larger when viewed from the poles. This explains in part its brighter appearance at solstices. Uranus is also known to exhibit strong meridional variations in albedo (see above). For instance, the south polar region