Do you ever wonder about the age of the planets in our solar system? For years, space enthusiasts have often wondered about the exact age of the planets. And now, using Sandia National Laboratory's Z Machine, experts may be able to solve the lingering mystery.

Since planets typically cool with age, Saturn is a mystery to astrophysicists in terms of the connection between its age and temperature since the planet is much hotter than its expected age if it is in line with rest of the solar system.   

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Saturn is hotter than it should be without any extra energy source, astrophysicists said. And because of its heat quotient, researchers are unable to detect its exact age. However, Sandia's high-energy-density physics theory group manager Thomas Mattsson said that models, which predicted the age of Jupiter to be 4.5 billion years old, has discovered that Saturn is 2.5 billion years old, NYC Today has learned.

To solve the conundrum of Saturn's age, new findings from Sandia National Laboratory's Z Machine revealed that the molecular hydrogen found on the planet becomes metallic under enough pressure and breaks up into a substance that can carry a current. This conjecture could help explain Saturn's age as when hydrogen becomes metallic and mixes with helium in a dense liquid then it can release helium rain, Pioneer News reported.

"That long-ago prediction would explain Saturn's temperature because when hydrogen metallizes and mixes with helium in a dense liquid, it can release helium rain," Sandia researcher Mike Desjarlais stated.

"Essentially, helium rain would keep Saturn warmer than calculations of planetary age alone would predict," Marcus Knudson of Sandia added.

The Z machine findings, which were published in the journal Science, also allowed scientists to send throbs of electricity with a magnetic field capable of compressing a target substance. According to The Space Reporter, researchers also found that a variant of hydrogen consequently compressed became atomic instead of being molecular.

Meanwhile, it was only through Sandia's recent experiments that this density-driven hydrogen transition has been physically observed. In earlier experiments, gas guns were used to shock the gas. In the case of Sandia's Z machine, which is the world's most powerful pulsed-power machine, a sub-microsecond pulse of electricity is sent at a target.

For now, the results of the experiments are needed to be entered into astrophysical models in order to distinguish if the atomic hydrogen reduces the age gap between the two huge planets.

TagsSaturn, Age, outer space, planet, Universe, Science