Space & Astronomy

Diamond rain may fall on Jupiter and Saturn

By T.K. Randall
October 10, 2013

Image: Jupiter
Credit: (PD) NASA/STSCI (S.T.A.R.S) The gas giants continue to offer up surprises as it was revealed this week that the conditions on these two worlds are just right to enable entire oceans of liquid diamond to exist. Astrophysicists believe that lighting storms in the atmospheres of Jupiter of Saturn create particles of carbon which are condensed in to chunks of diamond due to the intense pressures they encounter as they fall. At even greater depths these diamonds would eventually condense in to liquid that would subsequently form a stable ocean layer.

While considered a rare and valuable commodity here on Earth, diamond can exist in vast amounts elsewhere in the universe. Two years ago astronomers discovered a planet fives times the size of the Earth which is believed to be comprised almost entirely of diamond. Other worlds with thick diamond layers, including one located 40 light years away, have also been found.

Source: Telegraph

Tags: Jupiter, Saturn, Diamond