SUPERNOVAE AS SOURCES OF INTERSTELLAR DIAMONDS

Small hydrocarbon grains in the vicinity of a supernova could be annealed by the absorption of several far-ultraviolet photons to produce the tiny diamonds found in meteorites. These freshly-synthesized diamond grains would be bombarded by the heavy ions and neutrals in the supernovae outflow and would thereby acquire the distinctive noble-gas isotopic signature by which they were first isolated. Only diamonds formed relatively close to supernovae would acquire such a signature, since grains formed farther out would be subjected to a much diluted and less energetic plasma environment.