Raining Diamonds on Planet Uranus and Neptune

This is actually a fairly old subject, although many people still have never heard of this. I know they have published stuff about this way back in 1999, maybe even before, but I also recently read a newer version, as well. Then again, it is not that uncommon to run across regurgitated verbiage online, so maybe it was just another spun article; ha!

Anyway, many people don't take too kindly to this subject. I mean, when I go up to somebody and say: "It is raining diamonds on Uranus!" They look at me like I'm crazy and generally say something odd like, "I don't have money coming out of my backside; you're nuts!" and walk off. Some people are just weird, but that is besides the point.

This easy-to-understand concept is simply based on the fact that high amounts of methane can turn into diamonds when it encounters extremely high pressures and temperatures, sort of like the ones found inside Neptune and Planet Uranus. It would be coming down on these planets sort of like hail does on this one, going by what I have read. Has anyone been down there and seen it for their selves? No, but if we ever find a way to get our greedy mitts on these rocks, you can bet the price of diamonds will plummet here on Earth due to supply & demand. I wouldn't plan on it anytime soon, though, as they haven't even found an effective way to mine asteroids for resources without it costing way more than what it is worth, but all of that could change in due time. 

This all reminds me of an update I recently did on my "how did the moon form" post. They theorized that the moon has enough oxygen locked inside of the minerals on the surface, that billions of people could breathe for 100,000 years from it. Well, sort of like finding a way to collect diamonds from planet Neptune or Uranus, the primary problem involved a way to transport such a giant, industrial-sized machine across space to extract such things. Yep, before we get too concerned with what is raining down within other celestial bodies out in the cosmos, we better get to working on our advanced spaceships or else we will always just be spectators from afar.

An additional tidbit about Planet Uranus: This gas planet just looks like a blue-green ball from a distance, but upon a closer look it is quite unique among the other planets in our solar system simply because Uranus rotates on its side for reasons the scientific community haven't quite figured out yet. One could say it suffered from massive cosmic collisions in the past, but either way, the tilt makes Uranus unique among our solar system planets in that aspect.

Random tidbits about Neptune: If anyone has ever wondered why Neptune is so blue, it's because the planet is really rich in methane gas. As sunlight permeates Neptune’s atmosphere, methane gas absorbs the red portion of light, leaving the planet with a brilliant blue color. Uranus also has a lot of methane, albeit it is more of a blue-green color. This next tidbit about Neptune is something I've recently read, which I had no idea about: "Neptune is the windiest planet in the solar system." The wind speeds on that planet can be over 1,200 miles per hour, at times! Wow! That makes a Category 5 hurricane on Earth with speeds of over 200 miles per hour look like calm winds; ha!

Well, I guess I'm getting off subject from the whole "raining diamonds" thing. Either way, I just thought this was a semi-interesting topic, and figured I'd share these little bits of information with the community today.

Image Credit: www.zimbio.com

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