scientist have succeed in creating a type of ice that forms at temperatures that are almost as hot as the Sun , and press meg of times big than Earth ’s standard pressure .
know as superionic ice , it is trust to organize at these uttermost temperatures and pressure and melts at an astonishing 4,700 ° C ( 8,500 ° F ) . For compare , the surface of the Sun is about 5,500 ° vitamin C ( 9,940 ° F ) . A study describing the finding was published inNature Physicsback in February .
AsLive Sciencenotes , making the ice rink “ was complicated ” . The team first compressed water into an ultrastrong cubic crystalline ice , with diamond anvil cells apply a imperativeness 25,000 times Earth ’s atmospheric pressure . They then used optical maser ray of light to heat and compress the cells even more , reach pressures of 2 million ( yes , million ) Earth atmospheres .
Superionic sparkler forms when “ atomic number 8 atoms are interlock into a watch glass structure , but the hydrogen ion move around , hold the ice at the same time hearty and fluent , somewhat similar to lava , ” notedSeeker . It ’s essentially composed of a fluid of H ion that run through alattice of oxygen , and it ’s thought this unique form of ice could be found of course inside the ice giants Uranus and Neptune .
“ It ’s … idea - flabbergast that rooted piss shabu is present at thousand of degrees inside these major planet , but that ’s what the experiments show , ” Raymond Jeanloz from the University of California , Berkeley , a co - author on the study , said in astatement . The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory ( LLNL ) in California and the University of Rochester in New York were also involved in the inquiry .
Superionic refers to a phase of water where it behaves as both a solid and a liquidity . Although it has been indirectly consider before , this study was the first to ever find observational evidence for it . It was first predicted to exist back in 1988 .
The determination suggest that Uranus and Neptune , instead of being relatively “ fluffy planets ” , might actually contain a expectant mantle of superionic ice-skating rink , which could explicate their strange magnetic field . They are highly tip to the planet ’s axis , 59 and 47 degrees respectively , compared to 11 arcdegree on Earth .
“ This is particularly relevant as NASA is considering set in motion a investigation to Uranus and/or Neptune , in the stride of the successful Cassini and Juno missionary post to Saturn and Jupiter , ” the statement noted .
The squad hope to apply their methods to higher floor of compression , to seek to work out what the interior of other planets like Saturn and Jupiter calculate like , which contain a lot of flat helium .
[ H / T : survive Science / Seeker ]
