REM%MIT-MC@sri-unix.UUCP (03/11/84)
From: Robert Elton Maas <REM @ MIT-MC>
From: Joe Buck <buck@NRL-CSS>
Date: Sat, 10 Mar 84 13:27:14 EST
(Jupiter radiates more energy than it receives from the sun)
This is a famous "lie by understatement" that I pointed out several
months ago on this list. Every planet radiates more energy than it
receives, because every planet has some radioactive materials which
decay releasing energy in the form of heat, and both this additional
heat and all the energy received from the Sun must be radiated or else
the planet will keep getting hotter and hotter and hotter etc. What
actually happens is it keeps getting hotter until blackbody radiation
plus special radiation (such as from lightning etc.) just equals
incoming (solar-mostly) radiation plus radioactive-decay-energy plus
gravitational-collapse energy. At that point it reaches equilibrium
and the following equations/inequalities hold:
OUT = IN + RadioactiveEnergy + GravitationalCollapseEnergy
OUT = IN + PositiveNumber + NonnegativeNumber
OUT > IN
The only spcial thing about Jupiter is it emits A LOT MORE energy than
it receives, whereas other planets only emit A TEENSY BIT MORE than
they receive.