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.
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“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.
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“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.
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Posted: at 30-07-2012 11:44 AM (12 years ago) | Gistmaniac
richi192 at 30-07-2012 11:52 AM (12 years ago) (f)
Rachael baby(daughter of holy Ghost) says "Jesus Christ is coming soon"....
Posted: at 30-07-2012 11:52 AM (12 years ago) | Gistmaniac
richi192 at 30-07-2012 12:02 PM (12 years ago) (f)
i wonder when Nigeria will discover good things once in history, is either to learn how to discover how to make bombs and increase BOKO HARAMS or to kill millions of people and be promoted, or to get more power in their witchcraft
Rachael baby(daughter of holy Ghost) says "Jesus Christ is coming soon"....
Posted: at 30-07-2012 12:02 PM (12 years ago) | Gistmaniac
aso4life1 at 30-07-2012 01:03 PM (12 years ago) (m)
I don't believe this, must they feed us fake discovery everytime? we have read so many things like this...if the world is made of Diamonds, then there will be no poor man again or our sand would have turn into diamonds
if u attack my papa house, I'll retaliate but if you are peace loving,I will embrace you
Posted: at 30-07-2012 01:03 PM (12 years ago) | Hero
A case of what you do not have is what you desire most, If there are intellingent beings there, they might as well desire the earth's rocks they way we desire their abundant diamonds. Besides, 4,000 light years away from our earth is an incredible distance.
Posted: at 30-07-2012 01:19 PM (12 years ago) | Gistmaniac
aso4life1 at 30-07-2012 03:59 PM (12 years ago) (m)
if the said diamond planet is real...I trust the OYINBOs, they will never announce it like this...they would have go there to pack as many as possible and use the income from it to boost their countries falling economies...so I no gree ooo
if u attack my papa house, I'll retaliate but if you are peace loving,I will embrace you
Posted: at 30-07-2012 03:59 PM (12 years ago) | Hero
aso4life1 at 30-07-2012 04:02 PM (12 years ago) (m)
Quote from: richi192 on 30-07-2012 12:02 PM
i wonder when Nigeria will discover good things once in history, is either to learn how to discover how to make bombs and increase BOKO HARAMS or to kill millions of people and be promoted, or to get more power in their witchcraft
Nigeria discovered Amala, Fufu,kunnu,Zobo,Ogi and so on...we discovered foods
if u attack my papa house, I'll retaliate but if you are peace loving,I will embrace you
Posted: at 30-07-2012 04:02 PM (12 years ago) | Hero
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