Love diamonds? Uranus and Neptune have diamond rain! Can we grab them? Find out

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Our Milky Way Galaxy and the solar system are full of mysteries and interesting facts. Scientists and researchers are keen on solving these mysteries and share the same with us. While we are unaware of so many things, have you ever heard of diamond rain? On Earth, rain’s water droplets are made up of (hydrogen and oxygen), however, there are some planets where these droplets are made up of carbon and are much heavier and thicker than anything imaginable. Neptune and Uranus are two planets that have diamond rain due to extreme temperature and pressure conditions. Though these planets are not very far from Earth, they are the farthest planets from the Sun as they form the outer layer of our solar system.

These two planets are identical due to their blue-hazed appearance as both of them are partially made of methane. Though they look soothing, the temperature and pressure conditions there can harden carbon atoms to such high extremes that they turn into diamonds.

During a recent conversation with NASA’s Gravity Assist, astrophysicist Naomi Rowe-Gurney explained the diamond rain on Uranus and Neptune and what causes it. She shared that both of these planets are partially made up of methane and carbon. The carbon can occur by itself and also be crushed by the immense pressures. Along with methane, Uranus and Neptune both have atmospheres made up of molecular hydrogen and atomic helium and when it gets really hot and dense, these diamonds can form and accumulate, shared Rowe-Gurney.

She added that these diamonds then rain down from the atmosphere. She emphasized that even if diamonds exist, we humans can’t get there and grab them. She added, “It’s not the rain that we see here because these pressures are extreme, and you’ll never