Diamonds Fall From the Sky on Jupiter and Saturn, Study Suggests

Diamonds may fall like rain on Jupiter and Saturn, a new study suggests.

According to the astrophysicists from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and California Specialty Engineering, powerful storms on both planets create carbon particles, which are then transformed into diamonds as they fall inward, facing greater and greater pressure.

Going even deeper into the planets, the researchers say the conditions are such that the diamonds melt and form a liquid and, possibly, an entire diamond ocean layer.

Presented at the annual meeting of the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society, the study relies on new data regarding how diamond changes state when confronted with intense pressures and temperatures.

"The new data available has confirmed that at depth, diamonds may be floating around inside of Saturn, some growing so large that they could perhaps be called 'diamondbergs,'" LiveScience reports the scientists as saying.

The study isn't the first to uncover a possible treasure trove of diamonds on another planet: Uranus and Neptune are both thought to boast the conditions ripe for diamond formation in their cores.

On Jupiter, the researchers explain, most of the diamond likely takes liquid form, while Saturn probably contain solid chunks floating through its atmosphere.

"It appears that the interior of Jupiter gets hot enough to reach the liquid diamond region of the carbon phase diagram, whereas the interior of Saturn includes regions of temperature and pressure where carbon could exist as solid diamond," Mona Delitsky from California Specialty Engineering said, The Telegraph reported.

In 2010, researchers published a study in which they argued that a planet located 40 light-years from the solar system, known as 44 Cancri e, is made entirely of diamond -- a first ever. A team from the University of Arizona, however, released new data this week casting doubt on this theory. Published in the Astrophysical Journal, the analysis argues that the host star -- and therefore the planet itself -- is not as abundant in relation to oxygen as previously believed.