Uranus emits more heat than previously thought

Science News ^ | March 11, 2025 | Ken Croswell

[Red Badger]

All four of the sun’s giant planets emit more energy than they receive from the sun.

Like the sun’s other giant worlds, Uranus (seen in this 1986 photo from the Voyager 2 spacecraft) radiates more energy than the sun gives it, though not nearly as strongly as its massive peers do.

JPL/NASA

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Uranus emits more energy than it gets from the sun, two new studies report — a discovery that contradicts findings from the venerable Voyager spacecraft.

When Voyager 2 sped past Uranus on January 24, 1986, the spacecraft detected no significant excess heat from the planet, making it seemingly unique among the sun’s giant worlds. However, new observations from space- and ground-based telescopes reveal that Uranus does in fact radiate more energy than sunlight provides, two research teams report in work submitted to arXiv.org in late February.

“Uranus is not as odd as we thought it was,” says planetary scientist Patrick Irwin of the University of Oxford, a coauthor on one of the studies.

Both teams say that Uranus, which takes 84 years to orbit the sun, reflects a bit more sunlight into space than Voyager had found. This means that the sun heats the planet less than previously thought, suggesting that Uranus must generate some heat to explain its temperature.

The upshot: “Uranus does indeed have internal heat,” says Liming Li, a planetary scientist at the University of Houston and coauthor on the other study. This heat is presumably left over from the planet’s birth.

[Responsibility2nd]

Uranus emits more heat than previously thought

 

 

Yeah.

 

[Red Badger]

Supposedly it and Neptune have oceans 5000 MILES DEEP..................

[FlyingEagle]

Ring burner

[Responsibility2nd]

There were times in the past where the moderators would immediately one of these threads.

“Grow Up”.

I think we have fun mods these days.

[Rummyfan]

Well… I suspected….

[military cop]

I think the mods are here for the chairs…..

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

Heat and olfactory distress.

[hardspunned]

What is it with mooning Amtrak?

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Nothing a little Cooling Gel won't fix...

[dp0622]

Gee, by the time you reach the bottom of Uranus...

[fuente]

I thought this was another cold fusion thread.

[ken in texas]

I’d like a recliner, please. :-)

[Bullish]

Uh oh, I think I know where this is going.

[fruser1]

I never actually heard of it before. I was just looking for a pic for my line.

Search reveals this article on the purpose.

https://www.ncesc.com/what-is-the-mooning-of-the-amtrak/

[Lockbar]

Title is as big as set-up as an Obama appointed judge.

[Getready]

Here we go....

[SaxxonWoods]

Well, it’s a deep subject.

[shotgun]

And its only the first week if spring!

[DouglasKC]

Where’s Captain Obvious when you need him?

[maddog55]

My anus is really productive in the morning during a constitutional.... Coffee is hot so I’d expect some relative heat signatures.