Posted on 12/28/2018 10:47:49 AM PST by Red Badger
In his book "2061 - Odyssey Three" (the third of his Space Odyssey series), Arthur C. Clarke put forward the intriguing proposal that the core of the planet Jupiter was, in fact, a diamond the size of Earth.
Now Clarke, even though a science fiction author of some repute, had a science background and always tried to bring rigorous scientific accuracy to his stories. So, could his proposition be possible?
The somewhat predictable answer is - we don't know. But we can analyse the possibility within known scientific parametres, to see if it is, at least, possible.
For diamond to form, the element carbon must be present. Diamond, as you probably know, is a form of carbon, as is coal and graphite (the "lead" in pencils).
It was once thought that the core of Jupiter was a giant snowball. However, the NASA probe Galileo, arriving at Jupiter in 1995 and orbiting the planet for the next eight years, sent back information that changed all that.
It found that Jupiter contained far less water than originally thought, but was very abundant in hydrocarbons - things like tar. The possible composition of Jupiter's core was therefore changed to incorporate this new information. What was important here was that carbon was indeed present - but in chemical compounds.
It is now also known that the interior of Jupiter contains liquid hydrogen, which can only exist under tremendous pressures. Whether this pressure also results in the carbon separating from the hydrogen atoms is a matter of conjecture.
Anyway, supposing that free carbon molecules exist at Jupiter's core, what are the criteria for them to become the form known as diamond? Well, high pressure is one - and Jupiter's interior certainly has that. Also, the environment must be at a certain temperature - something above 1,500 degrees Celsius, again present within Jupiter. So, in theory, a core that is a diamond the size of Earth could be possible. Let's hope so anyway.
A Diamond as Big as the Moon - Really
Until the Jupiter diamond core issue is proved one way or another, the biggest actual diamond ever discovered in our galaxy is a star formerly known as BPM 37093, in the constellation Centaurus, which is about 50 light years from Earth.
Credit: Travis Metcalfe/Ruth Bazinet, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics _____________________________________________________________
This heavenly body is actually a white dwarf star, around 2,500 miles across, making it slightly larger than our Moon. It is made up of crystalized carbon, cloaked in a layer of hydrogen and helium gas. Although not quite a diamond the size of Earth, it has still been calculated at 10,000 million million million million million carats!
Yet More Diamond in our Solar System
It has been postulated that the two outer liquid giants of our solar system, Uranus and Neptune, are hiding, beneath their dense atmosphere, oceans of liquid diamond, in which float solid diamond icebergs! It may seem far-fetched, but this proposal comes from a respected American scientific institution, Caltech.
These two planets are rich in methane, which is a compound of hydrogen and carbon. Under certain conditions of pressure and temperature, these can be forced to separate, resulting, usually, in hydrogen and graphite. Special circumstances may cause the carbon to crystallize as diamond and the pressure involved is sufficient to keep it in liquid form.
Imagine that - an ocean of liquid diamond! You can't, can you?
-—It has been postulated that the two outer liquid giants of our solar system, Uranus and Neptune, are hiding, beneath their dense atmosphere, oceans of liquid diamond...-—
I thought diamond was either a solid or, when heated to a high enough temperature, goes straight to a gaseous state.
Guess not.
Liquid Diamond has been created on Earth, by accident.
I vaguely remember a science article from years ago, where scientists were working on something else, and were using a diamond as a base. They aimed a laser at something on the surface of the diamond, in vacuum and under high pressure. The laser was out of focus and missed the target and hit the bare diamond instead.
What they saw under a microscope was that the diamond had melted and flowed away from the spot then re-solidified.................
Not here but I sure you could get some from your local jeweler ... or you could blow the vaults at De Boors for kicks
Too much phantasy physics and completely skipping the known fusion chain of large celestial bodies.
Here’s to cubic zirconias!
Where does all this carbon come from?
Global, uh Galactic warming. Trump is to blame because he negated the Paris Climate Accord.
Not true. The Russians are sitting on a lode of gem quality diamonds in a meteor crator where there are an estimated several trillion carats of high quality diamonds. Diamonds are also mined in India, Australia, Canada, Russia, Brazil, Venezuela, Guyana, and in the U.S. Russia is the largest producer of diamonds. . . and the de Beers cartel has no control over anything except part of the African market and that is waning.
Black diamonds, none of which were ever mined in normal diamond mines, which other than red diamonds were considered the rarest fancy color diamonds were traditionally found strewn on the ground in central Africa and South America and were usually the size of a pea or smaller. Most were the size of grains of sand and are used in jewelry as pavé settings. Black diamonds are, as a rule, very slightly lighter but very slightly harder than other color diamonds.
Up to 15 years ago only three black diamonds were much larger than that size. The largest two were the greater and lesser Black Orlovs, both were in the Crown Jewels of the Russian Tzar. The Greater Black Orlov is about the size and shape of half a chicken egg at 667 carats and is striated with brown and white inclusions and is mounted in the Tzars Scepter. Its a crappy diamond. The lesser Black Orlov is a far better quality diamond weighing in at 67.5 carats and is mounted in a necklace made of a 128 white diamond brooch suspended from a 124 diamond 18k gold chain.
The next largest was a 32 carat pendant.
Given the distribution of black diamonds and their chemical impurities, it is thought that all black diamonds come from a single source; a huge one kilometer in diameter black diamond asteroid that was born in the center of a supernova which struck the earth about two billion years ago and may have been the initiating event that broke up the super-continent on Pangea, striking right where the land masses of Proto-Africa and protests-South-America were joined, and burying itself in the earth, after strewing small fragments of itself over thousands of square miles.
About fifteen years ago, someone in Africa dug into a lode of black diamonds, perhaps even the main body of that asteroid, or a huge piece of it, and much larger cut black diamonds started appearing on the market from a mysterious source. These black diamonds were being cut in Israel and India and were not under the control of the de Beers Diamond Cartel so were not price nor supplied controlled. . . and much larger carat stones became available.
I designed and had made a solitaire mans ring with a 15 1/2 carat black diamond in rose gold which I wear daily.
I did the same for a six carat black diamond with 28 champagne diamonds in yellow gold for my girlfriend. I own a 121 carat black diamond Im trying to think of a good use for. . . Im thinking gearshift knob, cane topper, or club. . . Its a 1¼ " in diameter round cut.
I had an opportunity to buy a 255 carat black diamond but it was only about 3/32 of an inch larger in diameter than the 121 carat I already owned and was lesser in quality, I passed. It was a great demonstration of the square-cube law. . .
About five years ago, the supply of black diamonds started to dwindle. It seems that Communist rebels overran the African location where the source was and the mine was either shut down our sealed by explosives. The prices started climbing, going up by ten or more times what they had been when they first appeared for sale. I now seldom see large black diamonds offered.
Getting back to your original point. Diamond is not a scarce gem. If it were not a controlled market, gem quality diamonds would sell for around $15 per carat.
Crystal Carbon in vacuum does indeed sublimate directly to a gas. Under very extreme pressure in a non-volatile atmosphere, it can go to a liquid carbon form. . . Which could still maintain a crystalline structure. In an oxygen atmosphere, diamond burns.
And still not a large enough stone for some.
Wait until the Ferengi find out....
*ping*
Thanks fieldmarshaldj. Hydrocarbons, including tar, most amusing. :^)
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Even if production was concentrated in the hands of one producer, you'd still need DEMAND to generate a hefty price.This somewhat old article points to a confluence of events (environmental concerns, ethics, generational changes, increased appeal of substitute products) impacting price, whereby even planned output reductions can't stem the price decline.
It has inherent value, like gold, and myrrh. It is valuable as a cutting edge, being the hardest natural substance.
Ancient peoples did not randomly pick “crap” items to act as money. They wanted items with intrinsic usefulness.
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