A Planet Made of Diamond ??

[Jacaylbaro]

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."

[Garnaqsi]

I wonder whether Hadrawi had that planet in mind when he wrote the following lines in his poem 'Durdur':

 

Deegaantu meeshay ku taal doqoni waa mooge

Dhul dabayshu toban sii dhaxdoo durugsan weeyaane

Daanshood waxa lagu tagaa boqol diraacoode.

It seems so apt for this planet (even though diamonds have such a high status only because of their rarity).

[princesshafsa]

if such planet exists, it should be called girl's planet since diamond is girl's best friend!

[Showqi]

Waxaan maqli jiray dadkii odhan jiry waar Cadygaa inyar iiga jabi.

Hadda bal Planet-kaa inyar iiga soo jabi, aan hashoo Xaliimo ka farxiyee...

[UZTAAD]

is there any way that this treasure could be be brought in the earth, I think there will great inflation if the huge quantity of diamond floods in to

the market for once, so we

[Garnaqsi]

Showqi;743093 wrote:

Waxaan maqli jiray dadkii odhan jiry waar Cadygaa inyar iiga jabi.

Hadda bal Planet-kaa inyar iiga soo jabi, aan hashoo Xaliimo ka farxiyee...

Aawrta reeryaay oo wax ka dhacso meeraha, Faarax!

[grasshopper]

UZTAAD;743103 wrote:

is there any way that this treasure could be be brought in the earth

is this a serious question? lol they said the planet is 4,000 light years away and according to wikipedia 1 light year = "just under 10 trillion kilometres"

 

astronomy is the weirdest field...I'm usually really skeptical about what they say b/c it's mostly just speculation.

[Garnaqsi]

grasshopper;743122 wrote:

...it's mostly just speculation

.

Why do you say that?

[grasshopper]

Garnaqsi;743211 wrote:

Why do you say that?

I meant most of what they say is just theory... Like this one...as someone who likes hard facts, studying astronomy would probably make my head explode from frustration.