Distant Worlds With 'Diamond Rain' May Populate The Universe, Scientists Say

Scientists suggested Friday that it could be raining diamonds on planets throughout the Universe after using common plastic to recreate the strange precipitation.

Scientists had thought that high pressure and temperatures would turn hydrogen and carbon into diamonds thousands of kilometers below the ice giants.

The new research found that diamond rain could be more common than thought.

Diamond rain could occur across the Universe because ice giants like Neptune and Uranus are the most common form of planet outside our Solar System.

One of the study's authors said that diamond precipitation was different to rain on Earth.

Under the surface of the planets is believed to be a "hot, dense liquid", where the diamonds form and slowly sink down to the rocky, potentially Earth-size cores.

Kraus told Agence France-Presse that there could be hundreds of kilometers or more of fallen diamonds.

He said that the diamonds were formed by the same forces as on Earth.

Aiming to replicate the process, the research team found the necessary mix of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in a readily available source.

Kraus said that the experiment should work with coke bottles.

The team used a high-powered optical laser to illuminate the plastic at the lab.

Kraus said that the short X-ray flashes allowed them to watch the process of diamond formation.

"The oxygen that is present in large amounts on those planets helps suck away the hydrogen atoms from the carbon, so it's easier for those diamonds to form," he said.

New way to make nanodiamonds?

The experiment could point to a new way to produce diamonds, which can be used in a wide range of applications.

The way carbon and diamonds are made is by blowing them up with explosives.

He said that laser production could give a cleaner and more easily controlled method.

The diamond rain research is still hypothetical because little is known about the planets.

The data sent back by NASA's Voyager 2 in the 1980s is still being used in research.

A new NASA mission could launch next decade.

Kraus said that it would be a great thing.

Even if it takes a decade or two, he is excited about more data.

Agence France- Presse.