Latest news with #Voyager2
BBC News
4 days ago
- Science
- BBC News
Uranus: Giant ice planet could be warmer than first thought
The planet Uranus is known for being one of two ice giants in the outer solar system and sits in a remote part of the Milky one Nasa spacecraft, Voyager 2, has ever travelled close to it and the planet has long been thought of as a cold and distant could it actually be warmer than we first thought?A new study by scientists suggests that could be true as they think Uranus gives out more heat than it receives from the Sun. What did scientists find? The new study was carried out by a group of experts from Nasa and from the University of Oxford in the decided to take a closer look at the huge planet, which is four times wider than of the reasons scientists don't know much about Uranus is because it's located so far only ever been visited once before, in a brief flyby by the Voyager-2 probe nearly 40 years ago, in from that mission suggested the planet is colder than expected, which challenged ideas of how planets formed and the team decided to use the latest tech and advanced computer modelling and take a fresh new look at the old a result, scientists now think the planet may actually be warmer than previously author Professor Patrick Irwin, from the University of Oxford, explained: "We did many calculations to see how much sunshine is reflected by Uranus and we realized that it is actually more reflective than people had estimated."Researchers found that Uranus releases about 15% more energy than it receives from the Sun, suggesting that it has its own team says that the discovery could help people better understand exoplanets, which are planets located outside the solar system. Five top facts about Uranus 1. Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun, and the third largest planet in the Milky Way.2. Uranus is unlike any other planet in our solar system. It spins on its side, which means each pole directly faces the Sun for around 42 years at a time, followed by 42 years of complete darkness.3. Uranus has two sets of rings. The inner group of nine rings is mostly made up of narrow, dark grey rings. There are also two outer rings: the innermost one is reddish in colour, and the outer ring is blue.4. Uranus is one of just two planets in our solar system that rotate in the opposite direction to all the rest of the planets in the Milky Way - the other one being Venus.5. According to Nasa, Uranus gets its blue-green colour thanks to methane gas in the atmosphere. Sunlight passes through the atmosphere and is reflected back out by Uranus' cloud tops. Methane gas absorbs the red portion of the light, resulting in a blue-green colour.
NDTV
17-07-2025
- Science
- NDTV
New Study Reveals Uranus Generates Its Own Internal Heat
A new study by researchers at the University of Houston has uncovered that Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun, generates heat from within. Led by Dr Xinyue Wang of the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, the research challenges earlier beliefs that Uranus lacked internal heat. Published in Geophysical Research Letters, the study shows Uranus emits about 12.5% more heat than it receives from the Sun, which is around 1.8 billion miles away. This overturns earlier findings from NASA's Voyager 2 mission in 1986, which had suggested the planet was unusually cold and inactive internally. Dr Wang explained that Uranus is still slowly releasing residual heat from its formation, offering valuable insight into the planet's evolution and origin. While Uranus does produce internal heat, it remains far behind Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune, which emit up to 100% more heat than they absorb from the Sun. "From a scientific perspective, this study helps us better understand Uranus and other giant planets. For future space exploration, I think it strengthens the case for a mission to Uranus," Xinyue Wang said. The amount of heat emitted from Uranus is also influenced by its extremely long seasons, each lasting over 20 years. Scientists believe a solar weather event during Voyager 2's flyby may have affected earlier readings. Additionally, Uranus' moon Miranda is gaining attention for its potential to host alien life. New studies from Johns Hopkins University and the University of North Dakota suggest the moon could have subsurface water, a key ingredient for life and future human exploration. Liming Li, co-author and professor in UH's Department of Physics, said this study could improve planning for NASA's flagship mission to orbit and probe Uranus, an initiative the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine classified as its highest priority for the 2023-32 decade. "By uncovering how Uranus stores and loses heat, we gain valuable insights into the fundamental processes that shape planetary atmospheres, weather systems and climate systems," Li said. "These findings help broaden our perspective on Earth's atmospheric system and the challenges of climate change."
International Business Times
17-07-2025
- Science
- International Business Times
Uranus is Leaking Heat Like Never Before — Experts are Baffled!
Back in 1986, Voyager 2 had discovered a surprisingly low amount of internal heat from Uranus when it passed the planet. Since then, scientists have thought of Uranus as the odd man out of the family of giant planets in our solar system, which also includes Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune. These planets all have a tendency to release more heat into space than they take in from the sun. According to a recent study, published Monday in Geophysical Research Letters, Uranus does have an internal heat source like its planetary siblings, which may have led scientists to misinterpret the data from Voyager 2. Uranus emits 12.5% more internal heat than it takes in from the Sun. Compared to the other three giant planets, which release over 100% of the solar energy they receive, that is still a significant reduction in heat. However, the study that analyzed decades' worth of archival data on the ice giant shows that Uranus doesn't deviate significantly from the general knowledge of scientists regarding the formation and evolution of giant planets. The researchers examined data on Uranus's global energy balance over an 84-year orbit of the Sun in order to arrive at this conclusion. The team discovered significant seasonal swings caused by the planet's erratic variations in sunlight exposure after combining this observational data with computational models. The latest results align with a previous study on Uranus' energy balance that was published in May in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The study, however, said that neither study provides a definitive explanation for why Uranus's internal heat is significantly lower than that of the other gas and ice giants. According to a statement from the researchers, Uranus might have had a "different interior structure or evolutionary history compared to the other giant planets." Additionally, the study discovered that Uranus's energy levels fluctuate in accordance with its 20-year seasons. According to the study, these variations "provide observational constraints that can be used to develop theories of planetary formation for giant planets," in conjunction with the planet's heat budget. As a result, Uranus is addressed as well as questioned in the paper, which the researchers point to as a compelling argument for further NASA exploration of the icy planet. Liming Li, study co-author and physicist at the University of Houston, said, "By uncovering how Uranus stores and loses heat, we gain valuable insights into the fundamental processes that shape planetary atmospheres, weather systems, and climate systems," adding, "These findings help broaden our perspective on Earth's atmospheric system and the challenges of climate change."
Metro
16-07-2025
- Science
- Metro
Uranus is hotter and leakier than we realised
Uranus is windy, too (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto) It's getting hot and, er, gassy on Uranus. A deep, long probe of the bluish gas giant has revealed that it leaks far more heat than it receives from the Sun. The seventh planet in the solar system has an average temperature of just -195°C, unsurprising given it's 1.8billion miles from the Sun. But scientists now say that Uranus is actually warmed from the inside, according to a study published in Geophysical Research Letters. Lead researcher Dr Xinyue Wang, of the University of Houston, said: 'From a scientific perspective, this study helps us better understand Uranus and other giant planets.' Uranus is an ice giant, so-called because of the freezing conditions in which it formed 4.5billion years ago, when gravity squeezed gas and dust together not far from the Sun before drifting outwards. Uranus is the seventh planet in the solar system (Picture: Getty Images/Science Photo Libra) Most of what we understand about Uranus comes from a brief flyby that NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft did in 1986, when it snapped photos of the planet as a featureless light-blue blob. Voyager 2 picked up no internal heat from Uranus, being about the temperature scientists would expect if it were only heated by the Sun. Yet when it whizzed by Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune, the craft found they all radiated 100% more energy into space than they received from the Sun. This made Uranus something of a planetary pariah, with scientists having no clue why the ice giant's internal temperature was so low. But when Dr Wang and her team looked into an archive of data about Uranus, they found it emits 12.5% more heat than it receives from the Sun. Dr Wang said: 'This means it's still slowly losing leftover heat from its early history, a key piece of the puzzle that helps us understand its origins and how it has changed over time.' The gas giant took scientists by surprise with how old it is compared to other outer planets (Picture: Getty Images/Science Photo Libra) Dr Wang said that the Voyager 2 probe may have caught Uranus at a strange time, such as a surge in solar weather or how it was at solstice. The planet's energy levels also seem to change with its 20-year-long seasons, with these changes making Uranus' orbit and spin wobbly. So while Uranus probably has internal heat like the other outer planets, it's still something of a weird cousin to them, with researchers suggesting it might have a 'different interior structure or evolutionary history'. Jupiter and Saturn are, broadly speaking, toasty because of gravitational compression – heat is released as gravity squashes them. Why Neptune is warmer than it should be is still something of a mystery, however. Quick Uranus facts Uranus is four times wider than Earth. If Earth were the size of a 10p coin, Uranus would be about as big as a softball. One day on Uranus takes about 17 hours, while a year is 84 Earth years. Uranus has two sets of just-about visible rings – nine inner loops and two dusty outer ones which have a reddish tint. The planet's core is about the size of Mercury and is 4,982°C. The gas giant is, well, gassy, with an atmosphere made of hydrogen, helium and methane, which gives it a blue colour. It's pretty windy on Uranus, with speeds reaching up to 560mph. Liming Li, co-author and professor in UH's Department of Physics, said the study shows why it's so important we get up, close and personal with Uranus. After all, scientists have upended what they assumed about Uranus over the years, such as it likely being awash with 5,000-mile deep oceans and its moons supporting life. 'By uncovering how Uranus stores and loses heat, we gain valuable insights into the fundamental processes that shape planetary atmospheres, weather systems and climate systems,' she said. 'These findings help broaden our perspective on Earth's atmospheric system and the challenges of climate change.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. Arrow MORE: 'Super-Earth' sending out strange signal over 145 light years discovered Arrow MORE: Two black holes just smashed together into something 225 times the mass of our Sun Arrow MORE: A mysterious, ancient '12-mile wide interstellar visitor' is racing towards us
New York Post
15-07-2025
- Science
- New York Post
Probe of Uranus reveals where it gets its heat
Cheeky! A study has finally determined where Uranus gets its heat. Researchers from the University of Houston, led by Dr. Xinyue Wang, launched a deep probe of Uranus' data — and determined that the gas giant is actually warmed from the inside, according to a study published in Geophysical Research Letters. 'From a scientific perspective, this study helps us better understand Uranus and other giant planets,' said Wang of UH's Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences in a release. Uranus' heat has been a mystery since NASA's Voyager 2 passed by the gaseous giant in 1986 and measured an incredibly low level. AP Any semblance of warmth on the sun's seventh planet — which has a surface temp of -320 degrees Fahrenheit — has been a mystery since a NASA analysis of Voyager 2 data in 1986 suggested the planet did not have internal heat. That conclusion was at odds with science's general understanding of how planets form and evolve. But the new study found that in fact Uranus generates 12.5% more heat internally than it receives from the sun, which is 1.8 billion miles away. 'This means it's still slowly losing leftover heat from its early history, a key piece of the puzzle that helps us understand its origins and how it has changed over time,' Wang said. Uranus is still behind planets such as Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune in terms of how much heat it emits. Those planets emit 100% more heat than they get from the sun. The seventh planet from the Sun has been discovered to generate its own heat, contradicting previous conclusions from the Voyager 2 probe. AP The amount of heat emanating from Uranus varies by season — but those seasons can take more than 20 years, according to scientists. These long seasons could be the reason for the Voyager 2 readings in 1986, which may have been skewed by a surge in solar weather during the flyby, according to Uranus may meanwhile soon have a moon that could house alien life, researchers have said. The planet's moon, Miranda, has sources of water hidden beneath its surface that could play a role in the expansion of humans through the solar system, according to a study from Johns Hopkins and the University of North Dakota.
