Figure 14-3: Exaggerated Seasons on Uranus For most planets, the rotation axis is roughly perpendicular to the plane of the planet’s orbit around the Sun. But for Uranus the rotation axis is tilted by 98° from the perpendicular. This tilt causes severely exaggerated seasons. For example, during midsummer at Uranus’s south pole, the Sun appears nearly overhead for many Earth years, while the planet’s northern regions are in continuous darkness. Half an orbit later, the seasons are reversed.