‘Diamond Rain’ on Giant Icy Planets Could be More Common Than Previously Thought
upstart writes:
A new study has found that "diamond rain," a long-hypothesized exotic type of precipitation on ice giant planets, could be more common than previously thought.
In an earlier experiment, researchers mimicked the extreme temperatures and pressures found deep inside ice giants Neptune and Uranus and, for the first time, observed diamond rain as it formed.
[...] The new study provides a more complete picture of how diamond rain forms on other planets and, here on Earth, could lead to a new way of fabricating nanodiamonds, which have a very wide array of applications in drug delivery, medical sensors, noninvasive surgery, sustainable manufacturing, and quantum electronics.
In the previous experiment, the researchers studied a plastic material made from a mixture of hydrogen and carbon, key components of the overall chemical composition of Neptune and Uranus. But in addition to carbon and hydrogen, ice giants contain other elements, such as large amounts of oxygen.
In the more recent experiment, the researchers used PET plastic - often used in food packaging, plastic bottles, and containers - to reproduce the composition of these planets more accurately.
"PET has a good balance between carbon, hydrogen and oxygen to simulate the activity in ice planets," said Dominik Kraus, a physicist at HZDR and professor at the University of Rostock.
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