When you look at the weather before you go out and see that it’s rainy, you may not be very worried about the rain or snow coming out of the sky. However, the weather conditions of planets inside and outside the solar system can be somewhat alarming.
Let’s start with Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune. On these planets, matter that rains down from the sky instead of water can dazzle many people. According to atmospheric data, diamonds are raining down from the sky instead of water on these three planets. First, methane in the atmosphere of these planets is converted into carbon in bulk by lightning storms, forming graphite. Then, with the pressure, the graphite turns into diamonds, pouring diamonds from the sky.
According to Dr. Kevin Baines of NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Each of these ‘precious’ stones raining down on Jupiter from the sky is approximately one centimeter in diameter, in other words, large enough to be used on a ring. However, when these diamonds reach the surface, they melt and become liquid due to high temperatures.
According to the findings; Diamond rains are falling on Saturn, Neptune and Jupiter. However, saturn is the planet that makes the most favorable condition for diamond rains, because there are intense lightning storms over Saturn where 10 lightning strikes per second. When methane molecules in Saturn’s atmosphere break due to lightning, carbon atoms freely land on the surface. As these atoms descend down from Saturn’s dense, layered atmosphere, graphite forms and eventually turns into tiny diamond particles with pressure. It is thought that approximately 1,000 tons of diamonds fall on Saturn’s surface annually. (Many of the diamond fragments formed on Saturn are less than 1 millimeter in diameter.) However, while these diamonds are about 20,000 miles from the surface, they turn into a dough-like fluid from extreme heat.
In the atmosphere of Venus, precipitation occurs as acid. Because just as clouds on Earth are made of water, clouds in Venus’ atmosphere are made up of sulfiic acid. However, although acid rain is happening due to the temperature again, the acid evaporates before the precipitation reaches the surface.
Saturn’s moon Titan has many similaritys to Earth; volcanoes, wind and rain. In addition, Titan and the earth’s surface bear similarities. In addition, only titan and earth’s liquid precipitation in the solar system can reach the solid surface. However, instead of water, Titan’s precipitation occurs as liquid methane, which occurs approximately once every 1,000 years. Methane can reach titan’s surface in liquidity because the temperature of the surface of this moon is approximately -179 degrees Celsius. And that’s enough for the methane to get into liquid form.
In the blue gezgen HD 189733 b, which is 64 light years away from Dünaya, the precipitation takes place as liquid glass as the source of its blue color. This planet, made of a gas cloud, is close to its own star and the temperature on its surface is thought to be more than 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit. In addition, these molten glass are raining sideways at approximately 7000 kilometers/h.
Resources: Arcale, Calli. “What the Weather is Like on Other Moons and Planets.” Mental Floss, Sept. 21, 2012, http://mentalfloss.com/article/12596/what-weather-other-moons-and-planets
Dattaro, Laura. “Diamonds Rain Down on Saturn and Jupiter.” Weather.com, Oct. 9, 2013, http://www.weather.com/news/science/diamonds-rain-down-saturn-and-jupiter-20131009
Hammonds, Markus. “The Metallic Snow-Capped Mountains of Venus.” Discovery News. http://news.discovery.com/space/the-metallic-snows-of-venus-130610.htm
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “NASA Observations Point to ‘Dry Ice’ Snowfall on Mars.” Sept. 11, 2012, http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2012-286&cid=release_2012-286
Jimenez Jaramillo, Juliana. “Bizarre Weather Around the Solar System.” Slate, Dec. 11, 2012 http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2012/12/space_weather_tornadoes_dust_storms_hurricanes_acid_rain_on_other_planets.html
Space.com. “Titan, Saturn’s Largest Moon, Facts and Discovery.” April 13, 2012, http://www.space.com/15257-titan-saturn-largest-moon-facts-discovery-sdcmp.html
