Far away lands that have 'diamond rain' may populate space, scientists reveal
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Scientists have suggested that distant planets throughout our universe could be raining diamonds.
Researchers have previously believed that extremely high pressure and temperatures inside ice giants such as Uranus and Neptune can turn hydrogen and carbon into solid diamond-like objects.
After using plastic to recreate the precipitation that is believed to form deep inside these planets, studiers added oxygen into the mix and found that ‘diamond rain’ could be occurring across the universe.
These planets are acting super boujee out in space.
The research was published in the journal Science Advances and states ice planets are highly abundant throughout the universe.
The interiors of these celestial planets are often composed of a mixture of water, methane, and ammonia, and so when these materials react with the temperatures inside these planets, they will likely undergo chemical reactions and transitions.
The result - diamonds falling from the sky throughout our large and vast galaxy.
Raining diamonds sounds much more profitable than raining men.
Although, probably just as dangerous.
Dominik Kraus, a physicist from Germany’s HZDR research lab and one of the study’s authors, says the diamonds form and slowly sink to the core of the planets, according to AFP via Science Alert.
However, he states these diamonds can form layers upon layers that span ‘hundreds of kilometres or more’.
I doubt any umbrella will protect you from that impact.
To conduct the experiment, the research team mixed carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen on PET plastic, before turning on a high-power optical laser on the plastic at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California.
Short X-ray flashes with incredible brightness allowed them to watch the forming nanodiamonds - tiny diamonds too small to view with the naked eye.
Kraus added: “The oxygen that is present in large amounts on those planets really helps suck away the hydrogen atoms from the carbon, so it's actually easier for those diamonds to form.”
It’s not quite Purple Rain but we’d hazard a guess that Prince would still be infatuated with diamonds falling from the sky.
The research is purely hypothetical at this point in time due to little being known about Uranus and Neptune as they are the most distant planets from Earth.
Only one spacecraft, NASA’s Voyager 2, has flown far enough to reach the two ice giants, with data gathered from that 1980 voyage still being used in research today.
Featured Image Credit: Irina Dmitrienko / Alamy. EyeEm / Alamy.
Topics: Space, Environment, Science, Technology
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