Interesting forms of rain on other planets in the Solar System

On Earth, we are all too familiar with a certain type of weather. Rain, for example, is liquid water droplets condensing from water vapor in the atmosphere. But on other planets, where water is almost absent, how does rain happen?

1. Diamond Rain

Diamonds, which are extremely valuable on Earth, are extremely common on Saturn thanks to their interesting "diamond showers". It is estimated that nearly 1,000 tons of diamonds fall to the surface of this planet in the form of "rains".

Diamond rain comes from intense lightning storms.

Not only Saturn, but also Neptune and Jupiter have similar rains. One study suggested that they stem from intense lightning storms, with an average of 10 strikes per second.

Lightning occurs a lot, combined with the extremely hot temperatures on these planets, causing methane molecules in the atmosphere to break apart, forming carbon that is freely suspended under solid form, and then falls to the ground.

However, not all are converted into diamonds. Most of the carbon will turn into graphite as it moves through Saturn's dense, multi-layered atmosphere, scientists say.

2.Hot acid rain

Venus's atmosphere is also filled with clouds of sulfuric acid.

Venus is the hottest planet in the Solar System, with a surface temperature of 463.85 degrees Celsius. The atmospheric pressure on the planet is so great that they easily "crush" solid matter, and The planet's surface is also constantly witnessing volcanic activity.

Not only that, but Venus's atmosphere is also filled with clouds of sulfuric acid, which regularly rain down on the planet.

However, the superheated temperature at the surface of the planet causes the acid raindrops to be quickly converted to vapor from an altitude of about 25 km, and hang here.

3. Cold methane rain

Saturn's moon Titan has a very distinct methane cycle.

On Titan, Saturn's largest moon, there are frequent showers of icy methane at extremely cold temperatures, around -179 degrees Celsius.

Just as Earth has a water cycle, Titan has a very unique methane cycle. The rains pour liquid methane into reservoirs, and evaporate into clouds, before they begin a new cycle.

4. Dry ice and snow

The ideal conditions for these rains to occur are around minus 125 degrees Celsius

In 2012, data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter provided scientists with evidence of carbon dioxide sleet taking place on the Red Planet.

There, frozen carbon dioxide rained down on the planet's surface as solid rocks.

It is known that the ideal conditions for these rains to occur are around minus 125 degrees Celsius, much colder than the freezing point of water on Earth, but quite easy to find on the surface of Mars.

Contrary to the basic form, these "rains" do not carry liquid water, so they are called "dry hail", or "dry sleet".

5. Helium rain at extreme pressure

 Helium (or helium) rain is quite common on gaseous planets.

If rain is easily observed on terrestrial planets, what about gas planets?

In 2021, a report published in the journal Nature revealed evidence that helium (or helium) rain is fairly common on gaseous planets like Jupiter and Saturn.

They consist of droplets of liquid helium mixed with hydrogen and liquid metal, which have occurred under a special condition of pressure, about 40,000 times that of Earth's atmosphere.

6. Intense plasma rain

These rains come from charged plasma flows.

The sun, the bright star at the center of our galaxy, also rains.

However, because the surface of the Sun is hot to millions of degrees Celsius, water cannot evaporate or condense. Instead, these rains come from streams of electrically charged plasma, which launch into the Sun's outer atmosphere.

Here, the plasma cools, and will condense into thick clumps of gas, before falling back down to the surface of the Sun, forming violent "rains" known as coronals.