A Diamond Deal That’s Out Of This World

Diamonds floating in space

The good news is that we may have found a better deal on diamonds than what you’ll get at Dallas Gold & Silver Exchange.

The bad news is that it’s 500 million miles away and it’s really hard to breathe.

At No. 24 on the Perot Museum of Nature and Science list of “Amaze Your Brain” fun facts, the great Dallas museum points out that “On Saturn and Jupiter, it can rain diamonds.”

The conclusion comes from a study presented five years ago at an American Astronomical Society meeting in Denver. Space supernerds Kevin Baines and Mona Delitsky analyzed all kinds of data we can’t begin to understand and concluded that the planets’ atmosphere are rich with methane gas.

They also have lots of lightning storms, which turn the methane into carbon. As the carbon heads to the surface, the fierce atmospheric pressure forms it into clumps of graphite and then actual diamonds, giving the planets the most valuable hail in the universe.

(Remember when Superman would grab a lump of coal and use his superstrength to crush it into a diamond? Sort of like that)

Before you Google “Jupiter Gold & Silver Exchange,” you should know that not all scientists agree with this conclusion. And the planets are mostly big balls of gas. As the diamonds fall closer to the hot planet core, they liquify into diamond soup, which would be harder to wear on your neck or finger.

So scientists agree: the best, most practical place in the solar system for all your diamond needs remains Dallas Gold & Silver Exchange.