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.
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.
Obligatory, “why, thank you”
If it’s producing more heat than a standard world that size would (I’m assuming compared to Neptune), perhaps it’s due to the composition of the rogue body that collided with it in the distant past to give it its axial tilt. Considering how profoundly, anomolously large the current 20km interstellar object 3I Atlas is, its reasonable to assume interstellar objects are larger and more common in general than theory would suggest. Perhaps something interstellar and truly exotic slammed into Uranus in the distant past, maybe studying its oldest moons would give some clues as to what.
It’s actually less heat emitting than the other giant planets.