Black diamonds have extraterrestrial origins?

Jozsef Garai and Stephen Haggerty of Florida International University (USA) have confirmed in the Astrophysical Journal Letters that black diamonds, also known as carbonado, are crystals that are extraterrestrial.

They used synchroton radiation equipment at Brookhaven National Laboratory to detect the origin of this unique mineral.

Picture 1 of Black diamonds have extraterrestrial origins? (Photo: techno-science.net) The Portuguese word ' carbonado ' was established in the mid-18th century by the Brazilian in Brazil due to black diamonds that looked like porous coal. It is only present on Earth in Brazil and Central Africa.

' The key components determining extraterrestrial origin are nitrogen and hydrogen, ' said Haggerty. According to him, the presence of hydrogen in carbonado proves the formation in an interstellar hydrogen-rich context.

' Diamond type is usually exploited from volcanic rocks (kimberlite) at depths over 100km pushed up by volcanic pressure for a very short time ,' said Ms. Sonia Esperanca, Program Manager of the Fund The US National Science (NSF) explains. This process preserves the unique crystalline structure of diamond that makes it the highest hardness natural material.

About 600 tons of common diamonds have been mined from Australia, Siberia, China and India and marketed, polished and painted since 1900. But according to Mr. Haggerty, no black diamond has yet been available. discovered in a mine site.

New analyzes confirm previous studies conducted by Mr. Haggerty, proving that black diamonds can be created from supernovae, forming new stars. They have an asteroid shape with a diameter of 1 km or more when falling to Earth.

WITH