Astronomers discover planet possibly made of diamond

• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2011-08-29 00:32

  LONDON (Reuters) - Astronomers have spotted an exotic planet that seems to be made of diamond racing around a tiny star in our galactic backyard.
  
  The new planet is far denser than any other known so far and consists largely of carbon. Because it is so dense, scientists calculate the carbon must be crystalline, so a large part of this strange world will effectively be 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 every two hours in an orbit so tight it would fit inside our own Sun," said Matthew Bailes of Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne.
  
  Lying 4,000 light years away, or around an eighth of the way toward the center of the Milky Way from the Earth, the planet is probably the remnant of a once-massive star that has lost its outer layers to the so-called pulsar star it orbits.
  
  Pulsars are tiny, dead neutron stars that are only around 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) in diameter and spin hundreds of times a second, emitting beams of radiation.
  
  In the case of pulsar J1719-1438, the beams regularly sweep the Earth and have been monitored by telescopes in Australia, Britain and Hawaii, allowing astronomers to detect modulations due to the gravitational pull of its unseen companion planet.
  
  The measurements suggest the planet, which orbits its star every two hours and 10 minutes, has slightly more mass than Jupiter but is 20 times as dense, Bailes and colleagues reported in the journal Science on Thursday.
  
  In addition to carbon, the new planet is also likely to contain oxygen, which may be more prevalent at the surface and is probably increasingly rare toward the carbon-rich center.
  
  Its high density suggests the lighter elements of hydrogen and helium, which are the main constituents of gas giants like Jupiter, are not present.
  
  Just what this weird diamond world is actually like close up, however, is a mystery.
  
  "In terms of what it would look like, I don't know I could even speculate," said Ben Stappers of the University of Manchester. "I don't imagine that a picture of a very shiny object is what we're looking at here."

  
  http://uk.news.yahoo.com/astronomers-discover-planet-made-diamond-014913051.html
  
  ohohohohohoho
  this would be one expensive planet
• Jarvan IV wrote on 2011-08-29 00:38
  miners will make spaceships to mine those rare minerals and then we have dead space and the necromorphs and the----
• Royale wrote on 2011-08-29 00:39
  [Image: http://s3.amazonaws.com/kym-assets/entries/icons/original/000/004/592/my-brain-is-full-of-****.jpg?1308197678]
• Phunkie wrote on 2011-08-29 00:40
  It's 4000 light years away!
• Royale wrote on 2011-08-29 00:41
  Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
  How I wonder what you are.
  Up above the world so high,
  Like a diamond in the sky......
• Sekwaf wrote on 2011-08-29 01:04
  Don't you just love how the media can turn "Hey boss, this planet has a ton of carbon and it seems pretty dense." Into "OMG guys! We found a planet made of Diamondz0rz!!!11one1!!@~"?
• Andy-Buddy wrote on 2011-08-29 01:07
  Can we nuke it?
  
  And diamond is a dense form of carbon, sooo...
• Kueh wrote on 2011-08-29 01:11
  Me: *Browsing forums*
  
  "Astronomers Discover Planet Possibly Made of..." *cuts off*
  
  Me: Cheese! Omg! A planet made of cheese!
  

  [Image: http://puu.sh/4TNL]

  
  
  Me: HAHAHA! I gotta see the thread!
  
  *...of Diamonds*
  
  Me:
  

  [Image: http://puu.sh/4TNM]
• Moppy wrote on 2011-08-29 01:14
  That planet must have been very hard to find.
• Armi wrote on 2011-08-29 01:32
  but will it blend?
• Lan wrote on 2011-08-29 01:35
  [SPOILER="Spoiler"]Diamonds aren't rare, don't be fooled! That's what businesses want you to think so you will pay exorbitant prices for them jewellery! [/SPOILER]
  
  I had heard of this months ago owo
• User495 wrote on 2011-08-29 02:40

  Quote from Moppy;569884:

  That planet must have been very hard to find.

  
  
  I see what you did there
  
  and there's our source of super awesome fast computers O:
• paladin wrote on 2011-08-29 05:41
  I could imagine in like 1000 years
  We are at intergaltic war and we turn this planet into a planet shield or fortress
• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2011-08-29 07:08

  Quote from paladin;570150:

  I could imagine in like 1000 years
  We are at intergaltic war and we turn this planet into a planet shield or fortress

  
  
  Star Wars?
• TA wrote on 2011-08-29 07:27
  It's 4,000 light years away. We can already create diamonds ourselves. By the time we have the technology to travel there, the need to mine it would be completely unnecessary.