<h5>Mercury’s hidden diamonds!</h5><p>Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system, might be hiding something. Using data from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft, scientists have found that a thick layer of diamond lies under Mercury’s crust.</p><p>The layer of diamonds, which might be up to 18 kilometres thick, might have formed soon after Mercury was formed as a planet around 4.5 billion years ago from a swirling cloud of dust and gas.</p><p>Mercury is the second densest planet after Earth. Its large metallic core accounts for most of its radius and is the least investigated out of all the planets in our solar system.</p><figure class="image"><img alt="Mercury.jpg" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/newsahoot.appspot.com/Mercury_f69797a8bd.jpg"><figcaption>An image of Mercury taken by MESSENGER. Photo by NASA.</figcaption></figure><h5>How did researchers figure this out?</h5><p>When the planet was formed, it had a crust of graphite floating over a deep magma ocean. The researchers created this environment using an anvil press, which is used to study how materials behave under extreme pressure and to create synthetic diamonds.</p><p>The team inserted a mixture of elements inside a graphite capsule to replicate the composition of Mercury’s interior in its initial days. The capsule was then subjected to extreme pressure and temperature, replicating the conditions that likely existed near Mercury's core billions of years ago.</p><p>After the sample melted, the scientists found that the graphite had turned into diamond crystals. This helped them develop the theory that a layer of diamonds is under the planet’s surface.</p><p>The researchers also said that the thickness of the diamond layer is only an estimate. It can change as diamond formation continues as Mercury’s core continues to cool.</p><p>This research can also provide more insight into what is hidden below Mercury’s surface, planetary evolution, and the structure of exoplanets having similar characteristics.</p><h5>About NASA’s MESSENGER.</h5><p>NASA’s MESSENGER, which stands for Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging, was the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury. Its goal was to study the planet’s geology, magnetic field, and chemical composition.</p><p>The spacecraft was launched in 2004, and over time, it collected and sent a lot of data back to Earth. After helping study the planet for many years, it finally slammed into its surface in 2015, having run out of propellant.</p>

Scientists conducted an experiment to figure this out.

Mercury May Have Layers Of Diamonds Underneath

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Mercury May Have Layers Of Diamonds Underneath

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