天王星和海王星會下鑽石雨？

鑽石是地球上最名貴的寶石，需要經過地球內部數十億年的高溫高壓才能形成。然而在遙遠的海王星和天王星上，天上竟然能下鑽石雨？……

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Over the years, countless poets and songwriters have described the night sky as looking as if it were full of diamonds. As it turns out, there could be some truth in that.

多年來，無數的詩人和詞曲作家都曾以「彷彿綴滿鑽石」的字眼來形容夜空。而事實上，這種說法也確實有些道理。

On Earth, natural diamonds are formed when carbon-containing minerals are mixed with high pressure and heat over billions of years.

當地球上的含碳礦物經受了數十億年的高壓高溫，天然鑽石就形成了。

Within the faraway icy planets of Neptune and Uranus, however, it』s believed that diamonds are formed in a more interesting way.

然而在遙遠的寒冷星球海王星和天王星上，人們認為鑽石的形成方式更加有趣。

The planets, which are both around four times bigger than Earth, are each covered by an ocean made up of water and hydrocarbons.

這兩顆行星都比地球要大4倍左右，表面上都覆蓋著由水和碳氫化合物組成的海洋。

It』s believed that the huge pressure and high temperatures within the planets lead to diamonds being created from the ocean』s hydrocarbons. These diamonds then 「rain」 down to the center of the planets.

人們認為，行星上的高壓及高溫令海洋中的碳氫化合物形成了鑽石。這些鑽石繼而又會像「下雨」一樣落回到行星中心。

But while this has always just been a theory, a team of researchers recently decided to try it out for themselves.

儘管這一說法向來只是個理論，一組研究人員最近卻決定親自進行實驗。

According to a study published in the science journal Nature Astronomy in August, the scientists attempted to create 「diamond rain」 by firing lasers at polystyrene, a common plastic material that』s very much like the hydrocarbons on the two planets.

在科學期刊《自然·天文學》八月刊登的一項研究中，科學家們試圖用激光點燃聚苯乙烯來創造「鑽石雨」。聚苯乙烯是種常見的塑料原料，和兩顆行星表面的碳氫化合物成分十分相似。

Using special equipment, the researchers managed to create conditions like those on Neptune and Uranus. They used two kinds of lasers, creating a similar temperature and pressure to those found around 10,000 kilometers inside the planets.

研究人員通過使用特殊設備，創造出了類似於海王星和天王星上的環境。他們使用了兩種激光，形成了與行星內部10000公里處相似的溫度和壓力。

Following their brief experiment, the team discovered that they had created diamonds successfully, although they were onlya few nanometers in diameter.

研究團隊在簡短的實驗過後發現，他們成功地創造出了鑽石，儘管這些鑽石直徑只有幾納米。

However, Dominik Kraus, co-author of the study, believes that deep within Neptune and Uranus, the diamonds would be a lot bigger. According to Kraus, they could also be the reason why the inner layers of the ice giants are so hot.

然而，該研究的合著者多米尼克·克勞斯認為，在海王星和天王星的深處，形成的鑽石要大得多。克勞斯表示，鑽石或許也是令這兩顆冰巨星的內層溫度如此之高的原因。

「These diamonds will sink down …and when they sink down, there will be friction with the surrounding area … and all this generates heat,」 he wrote in the study.

「這些鑽石將會下沉 —— 當它們下沉時，將會和周圍環境產生摩擦 —— 如此一來便會產生高溫，」他在研究中寫道。

It』s hoped that the findings could eventually lead to easier and cheaper ways of creating artificial diamonds, which are used in everything from jewellery to machinery.

人們希望，這些發現最終能帶來更簡單經濟的製造人造鑽石的方法，能夠應用於從珠寶業到機械業的方方面面。

But until scientists discover how to truly fill the sky with diamonds, we』ll just have to stick with songs and poetry.

但在科學家們發現如何真正讓天空綴滿鑽石之前，我們還是繼續創作歌曲和詩歌吧。

本文選自《二十一世紀學生英文報·高一》684期

本文音頻由我報外籍專家Dale Fox朗讀

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