Planet Made of Diamonds Discovered

[bloomington-lib]

http://img.ibtimes.com/www/articles/20110825/204073_planet-made-of-diamonds-diamond-planet-planet-diamond-planet-sized-diamond.htm

The universe contains many wonders, but scientists have discovered something that defies the imagination: a planet made of diamonds.

The carbon-based planet is denser than any previously discovered. A diamond forms when carbon is put under immense pressure, so scientists speculate that the conditions are right for much of the planet to be crystalline -- in other words, a giant celestial diamond.

"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," Matthew Bailes of Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne told Reuters.

Located about 4,000 light years away in the constellation Serpens, the planet is in a tight orbit around a type of tiny dead neutron star known as a pulsar, completing its revolution around the pulsar every two hours and 10 minutes. Pulsars regularly emit bursts of radiation , which allowed scientists to detect this one, called PSR J1719-1438. They realized that the radiation beams were being modulated by a small planet, which then led them to the "diamond planet."

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. I got the alert on the app today

it is so damn cool... a science fiction concept becoming reality.

[htuttle]

2. "Lucy" would have been SO much catchier than naming it "PSR J1719-1438"

[tblue37]

7. Lucy the Australopithecus fossil was actually named after that song, you know. nt

[Orrex]

12. You don't know anything. Lucy the Australopithecus was named long before that song.

About 3.2M years before, in fact. Just ask her mom!

[Mnemosyne]

3. Awestruck. Do you suppose Newt will try to put it on his revolving Cartier account? K&R n/t

[ZombieHorde]

4. Links seems to be broken.

Here is a cool link...

http://www.space.com/12731-diamond-alien-planet-discovered-neutron-star.html

[krispos42]

5. Two observations:

One, I believe that Arthur C. Clarke postulated this about Jupiter in one of his stories

Two, this explains the headline over in Fark's "Geek" tab.

[Motown_Johnny]

11. It was assumed that Jupiter had a diamond core. This wasn't Clarke

postulating anything, it was the accepted scientific theory of the time.

[The Doctor.]

6. Cool. My exes will be off-planet in no time.

:evilgrin:

Actually, I heard about this a while ago and had plenty of time to think up a lame line.

[DesertRat]

8. Diamond planets are a girl's best friend

:)

[DetlefK]

9. It would have a crust made of graphite.

Diamond is the hardest but not the most stable state of carbon. That's graphite.

At the edge of the diamond-core, where the pressure is no longer high enough, graphite would be the chemical equilibrium state.

Just think about it: The expensive jewelry you just bought your girlfriend, gone in a mere few millions and billions of years.

[hunter]

10. So, how many carats?

:shrug: