Jupiter and Saturn Are Littered With Diamonds
2013.10.11
Shine bright like a planet. The latest astronomic news claims that the hazardous climates found in Jupiter and Saturn might also make them a perfect planet for harvesting space diamonds.
A study co-authored by University of Wisconsin–Madison's Kevin Baines showed stated that since these planets are the largest gas giants in our solar system, the harsh conditions also makes it perfect place for the creation of solid diamonds.
To put it simply, massive lightning storms cut across the gas giants' atmosphere, which shreds methane molecules into carbon soot that then begins to sink deeper into the gaseous layers of the planet, where it is exposed to higher pressures:
"This creates about a thousand tons of diamonds per year, and I estimate that in the 30,000-kilometer-thick diamond-containing layer, there are about 10 million tons of diamonds formed in this manner." — Kevin Baines
But even if a space prospecting ship is capable of surviving Jupiter's outer layers, beneath the diamond layer are higher than 8,000 degrees Kelvin. Since that's the temperature at which a diamond melts, the same thing would probably happen to any spaceship. So just stick to mining your diamonds on Earth. AAS, via National Geographic
Image Credit: Michael Carroll/Alien Seas
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