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SLAC Experiment Proves It Rains Diamonds On Uranus and Neptune (cosmosmagazine.com) 114

The Washington Post reports: On Uranus and Neptune, scientists forecast rain storms of solid diamonds. The gems form in the hydrocarbon-rich oceans of slush that swath the gas giants' sold cores. Scientists have long speculated that the extreme pressures in this region might split those molecules into atoms of hydrogen and carbon, the latter of which then crystallize to form diamonds. These diamonds were thought to sink like rain through the ocean until they hit the solid core. But no one could prove that this would really work -- until now.
Cosmos reports: The Matter in Extreme Conditions instrument at SLAC gives scientists the tools to investigate the extremely hot, dense matter at the centers of stars and giant planets... A team led by Dominik Kraus from the Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf research centre in Germany subjected plastic to shockwaves by exposing it to the intense energy produced by SLAC's X-ray free-electron laser, known as the Linac Coherent Light Source. The experiment caused almost all the carbon atoms in the plastic to combine into diamond-like structures a few nanometers wide... Astronomers think that the forces at work deep in the frozen mantles of Uranus and Neptune are likely so powerful that each of the diamonds formed could weigh millions of carats. It is also possible that the solid cores of both planets are coated with a thick diamond outer layer.
The experiment also suggests an easier (and cleaner) way to produce diamonds in a lab, which can then be used for semiconductors, drill bits and solar panels.
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SLAC Experiment Proves It Rains Diamonds On Uranus and Neptune

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  • I always hear "this star is made of diamond" or "some such astronomical thing is diamonds" Having a metric crapton of carbon in one spot is not necessarily a diamond, is it? If you took a scoop of the "diamond rain" from Neptune and put it at earth room temperature/pressure, would it stay as a crystal or would it become a gas?

    Also my new favorite measurement qualifier is "Earth Room". To differentiate it from a "Neptune Room" or a "Mars Room".

    • If you take a diamond out of the ground does it stay a crystal or does it become a gas?
    • by mikael ( 484 )

      Diamonds form when the carbon is under intense pressure. Then the atomic electron bonds are forced into a tetrahedral shape rather than regular hexagons like graphite or 3D shapes like buckyballs. Atmospheric temperature at the visible surface is -218C. Temperature at the icy rock core is 5100C. Inbetween it is possible there are altitudes where temperature and pressure are enough for water to form:

      http://www.dailyastronomynews.... [dailyastronomynews.com]
      http://inspirehep.net/record/8... [inspirehep.net]

      • by arth1 ( 260657 )

        Atmospheric temperature at the visible surface is -218C. Temperature at the icy rock core is 5100C. Inbetween it is possible there are altitudes where temperature and pressure are enough for water to form:

        Uranus and especially Neptune likely have a vast ocean of ammonia solution (not too far from industrial strength household cleaner). It's water, Jim, but not as we know it..

        They're called ice planets, but that's the astronomical definition of ice, which doesn't mean frozen water or even solid, but anything made of compound molecules. Hydrogen/helium = gas, compound molecules = ice, anything else = metal. Diamonds here count as metal to astronomers. Thus the largely gaseous and partially liquid ice gia

        • That's why you should try to keep chemists away from astronomy meetings.

        • by Anonymous Coward

          the astronomical definition of ice, which doesn't mean frozen water or even solid

          Citation? I found this [cosmoquest.org] which means solid to me:

          Technically ice is the same sort of thing as rock and metal, in that all of those as the solid phase of whatever is being described. In planetary science/astronomy circles, "ice" is basically "frozen volatiles". Usually it's prefaced by what it's the frozen form of - i.e. water ice, methane ice, ammonia ice.

        • by mikael ( 484 )

          "My God Jim, the entire oceans of this planet are made out of household drain cleaner!".

          That explains why the planet is the same colour as a bottle of Roto-Rooter or Dranex.

    • Re:SLACers (Score:4, Interesting)

      by __aaclcg7560 ( 824291 ) on Sunday August 27, 2017 @01:12PM (#55093627)
      Auther C. Clarke speculated in "2061 (Space Odyssey Book 3)" [amzn.to] that the core of Jupiter might a diamond the size of Earth [guide-to-t...iverse.com].
      • by ls671 ( 1122017 )

        Auther C. Clarke speculated

        Who the heck is Auther C. Clarke? Read your affiliate links before posting at least please.

        • Re:SLACers (Score:5, Funny)

          by arth1 ( 260657 ) on Sunday August 27, 2017 @02:58PM (#55093975) Homepage Journal

          Who the heck is Auther C. Clarke? Read your affiliate links before posting at least please.

          Being an Arthur myself, I have observed that it's a simple name that a lot of people have problems spelling. I have seen Auther, Athor, Artur, Authur, Ator, and countless other variations.
          It's so bad that I'm contemplating naming my firstborn Cholmondeley so he won't have to deal with this.

      • by Quirkz ( 1206400 )

        Then he also made some passing comment about the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (the Jupiter-turned-star is called Lucifer in the book) and says "I wonder if they somehow knew?" which really stretched it for me.

    • Do you understand how diamonds are formed?

      • Re:SLACers (Score:5, Funny)

        by DontBeAMoran ( 4843879 ) on Sunday August 27, 2017 @01:57PM (#55093767)

        That one's easy. Let me explain.

        Diamonds are formed when a pretty and dumb young blonde with a D-cup chest asks her fiancé for a ring. The fiancé knows she's asking for a diamond ring and the psychological pressure turns his next six or seven paychecks into a shiny rock.

        • Or, a nerd hooks up with a pretty and smart young blonde with a whatever size cup, and wants to put a ring on her finger that every mother fucker can see from across the room. It might be seen as a waste of money, but she is going to see it every single day, and it helps keep the players off her. Buy an H or I diamond with a surface flaw that you can hide under the setting. You can get bulk that will make her friends swoon. This stuff matters.
    • If you took a scoop of the "diamond rain" from Neptune and put it at earth room temperature/pressure, would it stay as a crystal or would it become a gas?

      Just like any diamond on Earth's surface, it will slowly convert into graphite. Diamond is an unstable allotrope of carbon on Earth and always decays to solid graphite regardless of how it was formed. So despite claims to the contrary diamonds are not forever, at least on Earth. However, since the diamond decay process is a lot slower than the human decay process most people don't worry about it.

      The physicists at SLAC are clearly well aware of the various allotropes of carbon and the physical conditions

  • Who bought them? Elon? Bastard.

  • by WrongMonkey ( 1027334 ) on Sunday August 27, 2017 @01:00PM (#55093583)
    This experiment shows that it is *possible* for diamonds to form under conditions that are *believed* to exist in gas giants. No direct evidence of such diamonds is actually observed, let alone "proof" that they exist. I'm not trying to cast doubt on the results, I just think we need to be careful about using the proper terminology.
  • I like the original "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" better than the Neptune version.
  • by Anonymous Coward

    Looks like it's time to conquer Uranus.

  • They'll "corner the market", and won't release them, like they do with Earth diamonds, thus keeping the price artificially HIGH on nothing more than compressed/heated carbon rocks. Diamonds...yeah, that will shut her up! (Ron White)
  • The first expedition to Uranus and Neptune is being assembled and trained even as we speak. They will learn to operate those rockets and shuttlecraft. One notable aspect is that the crew is entirely female, and each of them swears it's not about the diamonds

  • ... Taco Bell's experiments have proved that something else rains from Uranus.
  • The gems form in the hydrocarbon-rich oceans of slush that swath the gas giants' sold cores.

    The Washington Post must have meant cold sores

  • I sure am glad that I did not win that powerball lottery.

    I'll win the next one, and buy as much diamonds as uranus! has

  • The Matter in Extreme Conditions Lab photo looks pretty awesome and scary. Exactly like the kind of place James Bond will get trapped in, in his next movie. No way are you going to get me in there. And who left the machete on the floor?

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