Thousands of Tonnes of Diamonds Rain Down on Saturn

By John Jeffay / July 03, 2023 / www.idexonline.com / Article Link

(IDEX Online) - Thousand of tonnes of diamonds are literally raining down on Saturn and Jupiter, say scientists.They believe frequent lightning strikes turn methane around the two planets into soot - carbon - which hardens as it falls and eventually becomes diamonds.Researchers Dr Kevin Baines, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Mona Delitsky, from California Speciality Engineering, analyzed temperature and pressure predictions for the planets' interiors.They also looked at how carbon behaves under different conditions, and concluded that stable crystals of diamonds will "hail down over a huge region" of Saturn in particular.Dr Baines said: "As the soot falls, the pressure on it increases. And after about 1,000 miles it turns to graphite - the sheet-like form of carbon you find in pencils."The bottom line is that 1,000 tonnes of diamonds a year are being created on Saturn."Actually getting hold of these diamonds from outer space is not so simple though. Jupiter is 498m miles from Earth and Saturn is 852m miles away.

Recent News

Thor Explorations continues to lead TSXV global gold producers

June 02, 2025 / www.canadianminingreport.com

Gold stocks rise with juniors outperforming majors

June 02, 2025 / www.canadianminingreport.com

Gold Becomes Largest Metals Market

May 26, 2025 / www.canadianminingreport.com

Gold stocks surge on metal gain, Amex boosts Perron resource

May 26, 2025 / www.canadianminingreport.com

Global trade tensions ease and inflation continues to decline

May 19, 2025 / www.canadianminingreport.com
See all >
Share to Youtube Share to Facebook Facebook Share to Linkedin Share to Twitter Twitter Share to Tiktok