Uranus and Neptune may experience 'diamond rain,' according to some reports

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It's a beautiful day out there.

Compared to their larger siblings, Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus and Neptune don't get nearly the attention they deserve.

Uranus and Neptune appear to be dull spheres of molecules at first view. The diamond rain may be hidden beneath the world's surface, but that's just the tip of the iceberg.

The farthest planets of the solar system, Uranus and Neptune, are known as "ice giants," which may conjure up images of a Tolkien-esque creature.

It isn't apparent because the name has nothing to do with ice that most people associate it with, such as ice cubes in a drink. The differences in composition are what set these worlds apart. A majority of the gas giants in our solar system are composed of hydrogen and helium. These massive planets grew to their current size by rapidly accumulating these components.

On the other hand, Uranus and Neptune are primarily composed of water, ammonia, and methane, respectively. These molecules are called "ices," although there is no good rationale for it other than that when the planets initially formed, these elements were likely in solid form.

As we descend into the cold depths

Uranus and Neptune have a lot of water, ammonia, and methane beneath their green or blue cloud tops. But these ice giants are expected to have rocky cores surrounded by strange quantum states of matter. A super-pressurized "soup" forms out of the quantum craziness at some point, and the closer you approach the surface, the thinner it becomes.

There are many mysteries concerning the ice giants' internal structures, but we don't know much about them. During Voyager 2's historical journey, we last received up-close data on these two worlds three decades ago.

Even though many orbiting probes have been sent to Jupiter and Saturn since then, we've only been able to observe Uranus and Neptune through the lens of a telescope.

Astronomers and planetary scientists must combine that data with laboratory studies that attempt to duplicate the conditions of those planets' innards to understand those planets better. In addition, they employ a lot of old-fashioned math. Mathematical modelling helps astronomers make sense of a given scenario when they have limited information.

Uranus and Neptune may have so-called "diamond rain" thanks to mathematical models and laboratory testing.

When it comes to diamonds, it just keeps falling.

Before the Voyager 2 mission launched in 1977, the possibility of diamond rain was discussed. Because we know what Uranus and Neptune are comprised of. Because the denser and hotter the material grows, the deeper you go into a planet, our logic was relatively straightforward. These planets' mantles are anticipated to have temperatures somewhere between 7,000 and 12,140 degrees Fahrenheit (or 6,727 and 6,140 degrees Celsius) and pressures six million times that of Earth's atmosphere provided by mathematical modelling.

We can infer from these simulations that the mantle's outermost layers are cooler (2,000 K or 1,727 C) and less pressured (200,000 times Earth's atmospheric pressure) than the middle layers. At these temperatures and pressures, it's a natural question: What happens to ammonia, water, and methane?

For instance, the extreme pressures of methane can tear the molecule apart, allowing the carbon to be released. Long chains are formed as a result of this process. The diamond-like patterns are created by squeezing the lengthy chains together.

When the mantle gets too heated, the diamond formations vaporize and float back up, repeating the cycle repeatedly.

Diamonds made in a lab

Sending a probe to Uranus or Neptune would be the best method to confirm this hypothesis. In the meantime, we'll have to rely on laboratory experiments as our best alternative.

Lasers can be used on Earth to simulate the temperatures and pressures observed inside the ice giants for a brief period. Polystyrene (also known as Styrofoam) was used in one attempt to create diamonds as small as nanometers in size. Polystyrene isn't abundant on Uranus and Neptune, but it was far easier to work with in the lab than methane, and it's likely to function similarly.

Because Uranus and Neptune can sustain their pressures for much longer than a laboratory laser, diamonds might theoretically grow much more extensive than nanoscale.

Is this what you get? Diamond rain is a viable possibility, according to our current understanding of ice giant composition, interior structure, laboratory results, and mathematical modelling.

Reference : https://www.livescience.com/diamond-rain-atmosphere-uranus-neptune

Image source : https://pixabay.com/id/illustrations/berlian-berkilau-percikan-642131/

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