highlights
Scientists studied the carbon of planet Mercury.
Carbon on Mercury is not present only in the form of graphite.
There should be abundant presence of diamonds there.
What do people do to search for treasures on earth? But even outside the Earth, there are many places full of treasures, some asteroids have reserves of gold and somewhere there are abundance of diamonds. But now scientists have found a treasure of diamonds near the earth which can make every person on earth the owner of billions. Chinese scientists have claimed in their study that there may be a treasure trove of diamonds on the planet Mercury. Along with this, they have also found out why this planet looks so dark.
Researchers at Sun Yat-sen University in Zhuhai, southern China, say that the secret behind Mercury’s unusually dark appearance must be bright. Studies by scientists have shown that graphite makes the planet appear darker in colour. He says that the amount of graphite here may be less than previous estimates and it is more likely that diamonds and other forms of carbon are more present here.
In their argument, the researchers say that if the previous calculations were correct, many diamonds and other types of carbon materials would have been seen on the surface, whereas this is not the case. This study has been published in Nature Astronomy. NASA’s Messenger spacecraft took data of Mercury from 2011 to 2015, which the researchers used in their study.
Due to Mercury being near the Sun, the possibility of life is away. (Symbolic photo: Shutterstock)
Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system, only slightly larger than the Moon. This rocky planet is at a distance of 77 million kilometers from Earth. Scientists believe that not only is it difficult to reach here, there is no possibility of life flourishing here. Previous studies also believe that carbon must have formed deep below the surface of Mercury. But the new study says that this complete carbon may not be graphite.
Graphite is used in pencil lead which is the most stable form of carbon. But at very high temperatures and below 3 thousand degrees Celsius it turns into diamond. Diamonds may have started forming from carbon in Mercury 4 billion years ago. More information about this will be obtained by bringing samples from future missions sent to Mercury.
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FIRST PUBLISHED: January 8, 2024, 11:19 IST
