Planet made of diamond found by astronomers: update

Reports have surfaced that a Planet made of diamond has been found. The outer space is filled with curiosities. Scientists have now discovered a planet which is largely made of carbon and is highly dense. So dense in fact is this tiny planet that its structure is thought to be crystalline. That is to say it is an entire planet made of diamonds.

Before you start jumping with anticipation, the planet is actually 4000 light years away. That is to say there is no chance of any of it ever reaching us in the near future.

The amazing planet is thought to lack hydrogen and helium, given its high density, but should contain oxygen near its surface.

“The evolutionary history and amazing density of the planet all suggest it is comprised of carbon — i.e. a massive diamond orbiting a neutron star every two hours in an orbit so tight it would fit inside our own Sun,” Matthew Bailes of Swinburne University of Technology said in Melbourne.

It is speculated that the diamond planet is the remnants of a massive star which has lost its outer layers to the star it orbits. Pulsar stars are tiny with a diameter of only 20 kilometers (12.4 miles). They spin hundreds of times a second, and emit beams of radiation.

This pulsar star is named J1719-1438, and its beams regularly sweep the Earth. So my monitoring the changes in the pattern of its radiation beans astronomers can make assumptions about its unseen companion planet.

The measurements that have been taken suggests that the planet has a mass comparable to Jupiter’s but it is 20 times more dense.

Shortlink:

Posted by admin on August 26, 2011. Filed under Environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry