what is the energy source for neptune?

Question

i am doing a school project and i need to figure out what the energy source is for neptune.
please help me

Answer 1

Models for Neptune's interior suggest that like Jupiter, Neptune might still be radiating primordial heat:

"In the case of Jupiter, it is the contraction of the entire planet from an initial extended cloud of gas and dust that produces most of the observed energy. This cloud was a condensation in the primordial solar nebula. The resulting energy of motion is transformed into faster motions of the gas molecules--an increase in the temperature of the gas. (This is the same process once invoked to power the Sun, before thermonuclear fision was discovered)...During the final stages of its formation process, when matter was streaming into the planet from considerable distances, Jupiter must have been very hot indeed, probably hot enough to produce a visible reddish glow. Jupiter today is much quieter, slowly releasing primordial energy from that bygone era, possibly still contracting very slowly at a rate no greater than 1mm/year."

Neptune probably never produced a reddish glow, but the same contraction of gas that results in Jupiter's release of primordial heat also occurs in Neptune.

Answer 2

Voyager 2 helped us speculate further on Neptune. "Scientists had thought the temperature of Neptune would be about -378 degrees F. However, infrared measurements by Voyager 2 revealed a temperature of -360 degrees F. That suggestes that Neptune, like Jupiter and Saturn, but unlike Uranus, probably has an internal energy source." The URl to the full article is pasted below.

And here's a quote from the second article whose URL is also listed below: "Neptune emits 2.7 times more energy than it receives from the Sun. This access energy powers the atmosphere to produce the storms that are not seen on its twin planet Uranus. The source of internal energy should not be leftover energy from formation (i.e. Jupiter) since Neptune is too small. Nor is it due to an unusual chemical change, such as the helium rain for Saturn. Rather, it is due to the fact that methane is highly abundant in Neptune's atmosphere, and methane is an excellent insulator of heat (i.e. the greenhouse effect). Neptune has a sub-zero type greenhouse effect that is trapping formation heat that should have been radiated billions of years ago like Uranus." This is a University of Oregon site and there is a cool graphic of a postcard supposedly from Neptune with interesting facts on it.

Uranus/Neptune interior

Answer 3

Depends on what you mean by "energy source".

Neptune receives solar energy from the sun (though about 900 times less than the Earth since Neptune is about 30 times as far from the sun as the Earth).

Neptune's top layer of clouds is around -218 degrees C.
But deeper inside the layers of gas in Neptune's atmosphere the temperature rises steadily. The source of this heating is unknown, but possible explanations that have been suggested include radiogenic heating from the planet's core, the continued radiation into space of leftover heat generated by infalling matter during the planet's birth, and gravity waves breaking above the tropopause.

Answer 4

The previous posts offer one answer but
Neptunes 'tilted` axis of rotation indicates
that at some time after its formation it must
have been subjected to a particularly violent
impact. This may have contributed something
to the energy now being radiated.
It would also create an unusual mode of
tidal friction which might heat the planet a bit
more than might be otherwise expected.

Answer 5

I imagine it is the same as the energy source for every planet in the solar system: the Sun.