Could Jupiter and Saturn Contain Diamond 'Oceans'?

It's a tantalizing prospect – but one that humans are unlikely to ever know for sure – new research shows that the planets Jupiter and Saturn could contain a huge number of diamonds on and under their surface.

That is the main finding by astrophysicists at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and California Specialty Engineering who believe the planets may have the right conditions to create diamonds.

Colossal storms on Saturn and Jupiter create carbon particles, and as they rain down under huge pressure they are thought to be shaped and transformed into diamonds.

And because of the huge amount of activity, the stones may even liquefy to create a type of diamond ocean on the planet's surface.

"At the boundaries, locations of sharp increases in density, on Jupiter and Saturn, there may be diamond rain or diamond oceans sitting as a layer," according to study author Kevin Baines of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"Previously, only Uranus and Neptune were thought to have conditions in their interiors that would allow the formation of diamond at their cores."

In contrast to Jupiter where diamonds would melt to form a liquid, on Saturn they probably remain in chunks due to the different atmospheres and temperatures, according to researchers.