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Confirmed: Uranus Really Is Hotter Than It Has Any Right to Be (www.sciencealert.com)

submitted 1 day ago by sundray@lemmus.org to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world

26 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/48332762

A new analysis of decades' worth of observations has revealed that Uranus does indeed emit more heat than it receives from the rays of the Sun.

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[–] jaybone@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 day ago (3 children)

So what causes this? The article doesn’t really say. Even though other gas giants do this too. What’s the theory on this?

[–] toynbee@lemmy.world 2 points 14 hours ago

The innuendo was kind of fun for a few comments, but thank you for finally asking the question that was the reason I opened this thread.

[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

i assume nuclear decay processes in its interior

i.e. uranium decays into lead and that process releases some heat continuously for a very long time

it also happens on earth, though i don't have any exact number for it. AFAIK, it's what keeps the earth's interior warm. otherwise it would have cooled down a lot more since the earth formed a few billion years ago.

[–] jaybone@lemmy.zip 2 points 15 hours ago

That all makes sense.

But if the inner planets do this too, then why is it such a mystery? Sounds like every planet does this then.

[–] sundray@lemmus.org 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They don't seem to have a working theory yet, they just noticed the historical temps are higher than expected. Exited to see what more research reveals!

[–] bradorsomething@ttrpg.network 1 points 21 hours ago

Could there somehow be a new form of life on uranus causing it to be hotter than expected?