GREG STEWART/SLAC NATIONAL ACCELERATOR LABORATORY
Illustration of diamond rain that occurs in the middle layer or mantle of the Planets Uranus and Neptune. The middle layer of the ice giant planet (left) contains compound ice, which consists of water, ammonia and methane. The diamond rain process in the interior of Uranus and Neptune was successfully simulated by researchers at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park, California, United States (right). The diamond formation process was successfully simulated using a laser beam on polystyrene, a type of plastic. Diamonds are formed under conditions of high temperature and pressure.
Uranus and Neptune are the two outermost planets in the Solar System that are rarely noticed. The existence of these two “ice giant” planets is less popular than their majestic neighbors, Jupiter and Saturn. However, Uranus and Neptune have a spectacular phenomenon that does not occur on other planets, namely raining diamonds, the raw material for diamonds.
Respectively, Uranus and Neptune are the seventh and eighth planets from the Sun. The distances from the Sun are 2.9 billion kilometers and 4.5 billion kilometers, respectively. The diameter of these two planets is about 4 times the diameter of Earth, meaning that if the Earth is the size of an apple, then these planets are the size of a basketball.
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