New Delhi | Jagran Trending Desk: In what could baffle the scientists and space researchers across the world, a new study has claimed that ‘carbon-rich’ exoplanets can be made of diamonds and silica.

A research which was published in The Planetary Science Journal has found that certain ‘carbon-rich’ exoplanets can be made up of diamonds and silica, “given the right circumstances”.

The research, which was conducted by a team of scientists from the Arizona State University (ASU) and the University of Chicago, found that exoplanets that orbit stars with a “higher carbon to oxygen ration are more likely to convert diamond and silicate in the presence of water”.

About the hypothesis: 

In their study, the researchers hypothesised that “these carbon-rich exoplanets could convert to diamond and silicate, if water (which is abundant in the universe) were present, creating a diamond-rich composition”.

“To test this hypothesis, the research team needed to mimic the interior of carbide exoplanets using high heat and high pressure. To do so, they used high-pressure diamond-anvil cells at co-author Shim’s Lab for Earth and Planetary Materials,” the researchers said in an official statement, as reported by the Hindu BusinessLine.

However, some researchers argue that the study’s findings are “too hard to be geologically active and this lack of geologic activity may make atmospheric composition uninhabitable”.

“Regardless of habitability, this is one additional step in helping us understand and characterize our ever-increasing and improving observations of exoplanets,” said Allen-Sutter, the lead author of the study, as reported by the Hindu BusinessLine.

“The more we learn, the better we’ll be able to interpret new data from upcoming future missions like the James Webb Space Telescope and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to understand the worlds beyond on our own Solar System,” Sutter further said while adding that these exoplanets are unlike anything in our Solar System. 

Posted By: Aalok Sensharma