When (yyyy-mm-dd) does the north pole of uranus most nearly point towards the sun? When (yyyy-mm-dd) does the north pole of uranus most nearly point towards the sun?
The information I've found suggests this happened in 1944 or 1945, but would like to find a more precise date or alternately what the heliocentric longitude is.
The &quot;Poles of Astronomical Bodies&quot; article on Wikipedia lists the RA and Dec, but doesn't include the Geocentric distance (otherwise, I think I could just translate between geocentric and heliocentric coordinate systems and have my answer).
Thanks
Tim
I have made an interactive simulation of Uranus and its seasons at https://ecliptiqc.ca/UranusEN.php. Playing with it, I get the north pole of Uranus pointing sunwards in early 1946 (my steps are 6 months, so I can’t be more precise for now).
The actual date may be slightly different, as I use a “fixed” orbit instead of the osculating elements, but it would be a few days or weeks off at most.