2024-08-20 13:10:15
Scientists have discovered new details about the formation and manifestation of diamond rain on planets such as Neptune, Uranus, or similar exoplanets (planets outside our solar system).
The work is the work of an international team led by Mingo Frost of the SLAC National Particle Accelerator Laboratory in the United States. The team also includes experts from the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY). The research was carried out using the XFEL, a European X-ray free electron laser located at a facility in Schenefeld, Germany.
Previous experiments using X-ray lasers have shown that diamonds can be formed quite easily from carbon compounds at the pressures and temperatures found inside gas giant planets rich in water, ammonia and hydrocarbons. After their formation, the diamonds slowly sink into the planetary interior due to the force of gravity and the difference in density, giving rise to a “rain” of precious stones from the upper layers.
A new experiment at the XFEL has now shown that diamond formation from carbon compounds occurs at lower pressures and temperatures than previously assumed. In the case of Neptune and Uranus, this means that diamond rain can start higher up than initially thought and that it should have a greater influence on the planet’s magnetic field. In addition, diamond rain should also be possible on gas planets smaller than Neptune and Uranus – so-called “mini-Neptunes”, which are one of the most common types of exoplanets discovered outside our solar system.
After they form, diamonds can drag gas and ice along as they descend from the outer layers to the inner layers of the planet, causing currents of material. The new results show that diamonds form on a layer of conductive ice that churns as the diamonds fall through it. The currents of conductive fluid act as a kind of dynamo through which the planets’ magnetic fields are generated. “The diamond rain is likely to influence the formation of the complex magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune,” Frost said.
An artistic recreation of the phenomenon colloquially described as “diamond rain” on a planet such as Neptune or Uranus. After their formation at a certain altitude, the diamonds descend into the depths of the planet. This unusual rain also influences the planet’s magnetic field.
By: Science News (Image: European XFEL / Tobias Wüstefeld)