MicroFactzzz#0011 · 🌌 Cosmic Oddities
It Probably Rains Diamonds on Jupiter and Saturn
The crushing pressure inside these gas giants' atmospheres may turn carbon into crystalline diamonds that sink toward the core.
The atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn contain methane, which lightning and extreme pressure break down into carbon.
Deeper in the atmosphere, pressure and temperature climb high enough that this carbon can crystallize into diamonds — hard chunks falling toward the planet's core like hail.
Scientists estimate individual diamonds could range from millimeters to a few centimeters across before eventually melting deeper down, where temperature and pressure become too extreme for them to stay solid.
This isn't a confirmed up-close observation (no probe has ever been sent to photograph it), but it's a conclusion well grounded in high-pressure physics and data from gas giant atmosphere models.
Sources
- General knowledge / encyclopedic sources
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Krulicza Nora
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