Diamond Shower Neptune (IMAGE)

Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

Diamond Shower Neptune

Caption

By conducting experiments at the Linac Coherent Light Source -- one of the world's most powerful X-ray lasers -- an international team of researchers led by HZDR physicist Dr. Dominik Kraus was able to demonstrate that hydrocarbon compounds split into carbon and hydrogen inside ice giants such as Neptune, shown here. The carbon turns into a "diamond shower."

Credit

Greg Stewart / SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

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