Understanding the Mysterious 'Dark Hydrogen' Found in Jupiter

The universe is rich in hydrogen. In giant gas planets like Jupiter, hydrogen withstands extreme pressure and temperature turning it into liquid metal capable of conducting electricity. This occurs inside the core of gas planets. A new study recreated the process inside the laboratory to study the transition of hydrogen to its liquid metal form and identified a state in between called 'dark hydrogen.'

The hydrogen surrounding gas planets are squeezed into its interiors and transformed into a liquid metal. This transformation is one of the mysteries the study wanted to understand. The study by Alexander Goncharov of the University of Carnegie with Stewart McWilliams of the University of Edinburg was published in the Physical Review Letters. The study measures the conditions when hydrogen transitions into liquid metal inside the lad. They identified a state in between gas hydrogen and metal hydrogen called 'dark hydrogen.'

The study suggests that in gas planets, there is hydrogen gas on th surface, liquid metal on the core and in between, there is a layer of dark oxygen. This is based on the findings achieved through mimicking the process inside a laboratory.

It is the first time scientists were able to forge this transition from gas to liquid metal state, according to Science Alert. Being able to study 'dark hydrogen' and the transformation process inside a laboratory can greatly help in understanding the gas planet's magnetic fields and their ability to expel heat.

In the lab, they used laser-heated diamond anvil cell to mimic the conditions of a gas planet's core. Then they applied pressures from 10,000 to 1.5 million times normal atmospheric pressure and temperature of up to 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. With this equation, the researchers found out that the layers of the intermediate phase does not reflect visible light but is capable of transmitting infrared radiation or heat. And because the gas transforms into liquid metal it is capable of conducting electricity at a very minimal rate. This somehow affects the magnetic field of a gas planet.

"This dark hydrogen layer was unexpected and inconsistent with what modeling research had led us to believe about the change from hydrogen gas to metallic hydrogen inside of celestial objects," Goncharov said in a statement.

Because of the findings, scientists can now further scrutinize the conditions where a gas planet expels heat and how the intermediate state of transformation, where 'dark hydrogen' is present, can affect the magnetic field of gas planets just like how the iron of Earth's core affects its own magnetic field.