planet made of diamond discovered

[Tsanten Eywa 'eveng]

A newly discovered alien planet that formed from a dead star is a real diamond in the rough.

The super-high pressure of the planet, which orbits a rapidly pulsing neutron star, has likely caused the carbon within it to crystallize into an actual diamond, a new study suggests.

The composition of the planet, which is about five times the size of Earth, is not its only outstanding feature

picture:
This illustration shows the alien planet around pulsar PSR J1719-1438, where ultra-high pressures caused carbon to crystallize in the remnant of a dead star. The planet is made of diamond and orbits a dense pulsing star with a radius smaller than that of our sun.

Spoiler

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

[Yayo]

I saw this on Prof. Brian Cox's page.

[Tsanten Eywa 'eveng]

Brian Cox?

do you mean this Brian Cox?

Spoiler

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Cox_(physicist)

[Yayo]

Is there another particle physicist known as Brian Cox?

[Tsanten Eywa 'eveng]

Is there another particle physicist known as Brian Cox?

no just an actor, director and a goalkeeper

[Nyx]

Holy cow, that's awesome!

I also found this article at National Geographic where it says

In addition, "we are very confident it has a density about 18 times that of water," said study leader Matthew Bailes, an astronomer at the Swinburne Centre for Astrophysics & Supercomputing in Melbourne, Australia.

"This means it can't be made of gases like hydrogen and helium like most stars but [must be made of] heavier elements like carbon and oxygen, making it most likely crystalline in nature, like a diamond."

which means that they're not quite sure about the composition and structure of it, it's only probably diamond.. but hey, I hope it really is

[Tsanten Eywa 'eveng]

Holy cow, that's awesome!

I also found this article at National Geographic where it says

In addition, "we are very confident it has a density about 18 times that of water," said study leader Matthew Bailes, an astronomer at the Swinburne Centre for Astrophysics & Supercomputing in Melbourne, Australia.

"This means it can't be made of gases like hydrogen and helium like most stars but [must be made of] heavier elements like carbon and oxygen, making it most likely crystalline in nature, like a diamond."

which means that they're not quite sure about the composition and structure of it, it's only probably diamond.. but hey, I hope it really is

do they think it can be water there, or is it just enough habitable for species, if it is oxygen there?

[Clarke]

Brian Cox?

do you mean this Brian Cox?

Spoiler

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Cox_(physicist)

Oh yes, Brian Cox.    There's been a ton of jokes over here about Prof. Cox, and it's not the dirty sort you'd expect either.

[Nyx]

Spoiler

Holy cow, that's awesome!

I also found this article at National Geographic where it says

In addition, "we are very confident it has a density about 18 times that of water," said study leader Matthew Bailes, an astronomer at the Swinburne Centre for Astrophysics & Supercomputing in Melbourne, Australia.

"This means it can't be made of gases like hydrogen and helium like most stars but [must be made of] heavier elements like carbon and oxygen, making it most likely crystalline in nature, like a diamond."

which means that they're not quite sure about the composition and structure of it, it's only probably diamond.. but hey, I hope it really is

do they think it can be water there, or is it just enough habitable for species, if it is oxygen there?

I doubt that there could be water in liquid form anyway because of the high pressure. Oxygen would probably also be crystalline. So I doubt there could be life there, at least as we know it. But I haven't found any more info from the researchers.

[Kamean]

I saw it in TV news. Interesting.

[Dreamlight]

Wow.

[Human No More]

Must be an interesting place to visit

I wonder what conditions caused the planet to remain in orbit.

[Kamean]

Only there gravity 300 times more than Earth's.