It Might Be Raining Diamonds Inside Neptune And Uranus
NASAAn experimental study found that highly-pressured planets like Neptune and Uranus may produce diamond rain.
In one of the most incredible pieces of space news this year, researchers reported the possibility of “diamond rain” inside Neptune and Uranus.
A team of international scientists carried out a controlled experiment that was meant to mimic the chemical process which takes place inside the planets known as “ice giants.” Over the years, scientists have learned that both Neptune and Uranus contain volatile environments beneath their surfaces.
Deep, deep in the cores of these ice giants, temperatures can reach thousands of degrees Fahrenheit. The surfaces of the planets themselves are also highly pressurized.
HZDR/SahneweißIllustration of the X-ray scattering technique used to test how diamonds might form inside the planets.
In a new 2020 study, researchers laid out their working hypothesis that the pressure inside the planets was strong enough to split apart hydrocarbon compounds into their smallest forms and harden the carbon into diamonds.
As the diamonds formed beneath the surface, the researchers suggest, a shower of diamonds roughly 6,200 miles underground would slowly sink further toward the planets’ cores.
The hypothesis was tested through an experimental technique called “X-ray Thomson scattering,” which allowed scientists to reproduce this process while observing how the elements of non-crystal samples mixed together. This test basically creates an environment similar to the one believed to exist on gas giants like Neptun and Uranus.
Their results showed that the carbon elements did indeed crystalize under the extreme pressure and heat in the fabricated environment.
“This technique will allow us to measure interesting processes that are otherwise difficult to recreate,” said Dominik Kraus, a lead author on the study. “For example, we’ll be able to see how hydrogen and helium, elements found in the interior of gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn, mix and separate under these extreme conditions.”
In essence, the technique creates mini, planets that can be observed from the lab. The fascinating study was published in the journal Nature in May 2020.
