Originally published on October 17, 2013
New research suggests solid diamonds are scattered deep inside both Jupiter and Saturn.
Planetary scientists suggest that intense temperature and pressure on those planets may be able to convert atmospheric methane gas directly into diamonds, which rain down into their interiors.
The diamonds are formed when methane gas gets struck by lightning, turning the gas into the building blocks of diamonds, soot, which then transforms into graphite. After that, the process of diamond formation involves very high temperatures ranging up to 7,000 degrees Celsius. The solid diamonds would hang out in the outer regions of the planet.
At altitudes below the regions where diamond is stable, the pressures and temperatures are high enough to melt the diamond into liquid, creating diamond rain or liquid diamond. That whole process could take around 1,000 years.
The study conducted by American planetary scientists Mona Delitsky at California Specialty Engineering and Kevin Baines at University of Wisconsin, was presented at the 45th annual meeting of the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society on 8 October.
