Researchers Solve Long-Standing Mystery After Voyager's 1986 Flyby of Uranus (sciencedaily.com)
(Saturday August 16, 2025 @05:49PM (EditorDavid)
from the 7th-planet dept.)
- Reference: 0178706268
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/08/16/2045223/researchers-solve-long-standing-mystery-after-voyagers-1986-flyby-of-uranus
- Source link: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250812234557.htm
"The planet Uranus emits more heat than it gets from the Sun," [1]reports Science Daily , citing a new study led by University of Houston researchers, in collaboration with planetary scientists worldwide. "This means it's still slowly losing leftover heat from its early history," says the first author on the paper, "a key piece of the puzzle that helps us understand its origins and how it has changed over time."
The study found the planet emitting about [2]12.5% more heat than it absorbs via sunlight, which "suggests Uranus does have its own internal heat — an advance that not only informs NASA's future missions but also deepens scientists' understanding of planetary systems, including processes that influence Earth's climate and atmospheric evolution."
> The discovery resolves a long-standing scientific mystery about the giant planet, because observational analyses from Voyager 2 in 1986 didn't suggest the presence of significant internal heat — contradicting scientists' understanding of how giant planets form and evolve...
>
> Additionally, the team's methodology provides testable theories and models that could also be applied to explore radiant energy of other planets within and beyond our solar system... It could even impact technology innovation and climate understanding on Earth [giving insights intoi "the fundamental processes that shape planetary atmospheres, weather systems and climate systems," said one of the paper's authors.]
The article adds that the researchers now think the planet "may have a different interior structure or evolutionary history compared to the other giant planets."
[1] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250812234557.htm
[2] https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025GL115660
The study found the planet emitting about [2]12.5% more heat than it absorbs via sunlight, which "suggests Uranus does have its own internal heat — an advance that not only informs NASA's future missions but also deepens scientists' understanding of planetary systems, including processes that influence Earth's climate and atmospheric evolution."
> The discovery resolves a long-standing scientific mystery about the giant planet, because observational analyses from Voyager 2 in 1986 didn't suggest the presence of significant internal heat — contradicting scientists' understanding of how giant planets form and evolve...
>
> Additionally, the team's methodology provides testable theories and models that could also be applied to explore radiant energy of other planets within and beyond our solar system... It could even impact technology innovation and climate understanding on Earth [giving insights intoi "the fundamental processes that shape planetary atmospheres, weather systems and climate systems," said one of the paper's authors.]
The article adds that the researchers now think the planet "may have a different interior structure or evolutionary history compared to the other giant planets."
[1] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250812234557.htm
[2] https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025GL115660
This material writes itself (Score:2)
by sacrilicious ( 316896 )
> "Uranus does have its own internal heat"
I'm a weak man... a weak, petty man...
It would be surprising if it wasn't shedding more (Score:4, Insightful)
It would be surprising if it wasn't shedding more heat than it receives from the sun:
Uranus is pretty distant from the sun, so it doesn't get much solar heating. Large blobs of gas tend to collapse, emitting heat in the process. Pieces of rock tend to have radioactive components. Etc.
That said, 12% seems a bit higher than I would expect.