CNN Indonesia
Thursday, 13 Jul 2023 13:15 WIB
Experts want to imitate diamond rain on Planet Uranus. (iStockphoto/buradaki)
Jakarta, CNNIndonesia —
Scientists are trying to replicate the process diamond rain which is expected to occur in Planet Uranus. Check out how to make it below.
Scientists had previously theorized that the enormous pressure and temperature could turn hydrogen and carbon into dense diamonds deep beneath the ice giant’s surface.
A study published in Science Advances in 2022, introduced oxygen to the mix, and found that “diamond rain” could be more common in the universe than previously thought.
Ice giants such as Neptune and Uranus are thought to be the most common planetary models outside the Solar System. This means that it can rain diamonds throughout the universe.
Physicist at Germany’s HZDR research lab Dominik Kraus said diamond rain on Uranus and Neptune was very different from rain on Earth.
This is because Earth and Uranus have very different planetary structures.
Beneath the surface of planets such as Uranus and Neptune is believed to be a “hot, dense liquid”, diamonds formed and slowly sank into a potentially Earth-sized rocky core more than 10,000 kilometers below.
Kraus said that falling diamonds can form vast seams that stretch “hundreds of kilometers or even more”.
While these diamonds may not be as shiny and cut as “a beautiful gem in a ring,” he says they were formed through the same forces as those on Earth.
Aiming to replicate the process, the research team found the necessary mix of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen in an easily available source, namely PET plastic, which is used for everyday food packaging and bottles.
Kraus said that even though the researchers used very clean PET plastic, “in principle this experiment should have worked with a Coca-Cola bottle”.
The team then lit a high-powered optical laser on the plastic at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California.
The “very, very short flashes of X-rays of incredible brightness” allowed them to witness the formation of nano-diamonds – tiny diamonds that are too small to be seen with the naked eye – as they form, Kraus said. ScienceAlert.
“The oxygen that’s present in large quantities on these planets actually helps suck the hydrogen atoms from the carbon, making it easier for the diamonds to form,” he added.
Furthermore, this experiment could provide information regarding a new way of nano-diamond production. Nano-diamonds have a wide range of applications, such as medical sensors, non-invasive surgery and quantum electronics.
(lom/arh)
2023-07-13 06:15:36
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