Uranus is the planet whose magnetic field is tilted about 60 degrees relative to its rotation axis.
Voyager 2 discovered this strange magnetic geometry during its 1986 flyby. The planet’s magnetic dipole is tilted approximately 59 degrees from Uranus’s rotational axis, far more than Earth’s comparatively modest magnetic tilt. The field is also offset from Uranus’s geometric centre by as much as one-third of the planet’s radius.
This unusual arrangement gives Uranus an asymmetric and constantly changing magnetosphere. As the planet rotates, its tilted magnetic field sweeps through the solar wind, creating a complicated magnetic environment. Measurements showed that the field can be much stronger in some regions than others, with especially large differences between the northern and southern hemispheres.
The tilt is not the same thing as Uranus’s famous axial tilt. Uranus rotates almost on its side, with its rotation axis tilted about 98 degrees relative to its orbital plane. Its magnetic field has a separate, roughly 59-degree tilt relative to that rotation axis. Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune all have magnetic fields, but none matches Uranus’s combination of tilt and off-centre structure.