Cosmic Gems: Why Do Some Planets Rain Diamonds?

Not all planets rain water like Earth. landIn fact, it’s the only place where this happens because it happened liquid water on the surface. There were already records that it rains on some planets gems included, one such case Neptune And Uranuswhere it is more abundant methane which in turn involves Carbon, When this material is crushed under extreme pressure Atmospherethey make diamonds Which ultimately falls as rain.

An international team of researchers led by experts from US Department of Energy SLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryNew insights into the formation of diamond rain on icy planets such as Neptune and Uranus have been obtained using the European X-ray laser XFEL in Shenfeld, California. The results, which were published in the journal nature astronomyProvide clues about the formation of these planets’ complex magnetic fields.

In previous work with X-ray lasers, scientists found that diamonds Must be made from compounds of Carbon inside the big guys gas planet Due to the high pressure present there.

Then they will sink deeper inside like a shower of precious stones from the upper layers. so, When it is very hot and the atmosphere is very dense, the pressure and high temperature cause diamonds to freeze. They become even heavier and start raining.

A new experiment at the European XFEL has shown that diamond manufacturing starts with carbon compounds pressure and temperature lower than expected, For gaseous planets, this means that diamond rains are already occurring at lower depths than previously thought and may therefore have a greater impact on the formation of the magnetic field.

Additionally, diamond showers would also be possible on gaseous planets that are smaller than Neptune and Uranus and are so-called “Mini-Neptune, These stars do not exist in our solar system, but they have been registered outside it as exoplanets.

On their way from the planets’ outer to inner layers, diamond rains can carry gas and ice, creating streams of energy-driven frozen water. The currents of this type of conductive fluid act as a kind of dynamo through which the planetary magnetic field is created.

Diamond rain possibly influences the formation of complex magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune, as the experts concluded in their document.

The group of researchers used plastic film made from polystyrene, a hydrocarbon compound, as the carbon source. Diamonds are formed from sheets under very high pressure, a process similar to what happens inside planets and which can be reproduced in the European XFEL.

Using diamond cells and lasers, scientists generated the high pressures and temperatures of more than 2,200 degrees Celsius that exist inside frozen gas giants. Stamp cells work like a mini vise in which the sample is squeezed between two diamonds. With the help of X-ray pulses from the XFEL, the timing, position and sequence of diamond formation in the stamp cell can be precisely observed.

The international working team also includes scientists from the European The European

* Mungo Frost is a researcher in the High Energy Density Science Division of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California, USA.