Diamond planet discovery is an astronomer’s gem

Diamonds are rare on Earth, but diamonds in space? That's rarer yet. Astronomers have just discovered a planet that's far smaller than Jupiter but has roughly the same mass, thanks to its superdense carbon composition. That ultracompact carbon means that the planet is essentially a spinning diamond orbiting a nearby neutron star.

The oddly gem-like planet — part of the system known as PSR J1719−1438 — was created when when its orbital partner stripped its outer layers over time, leaving a crystalline core still bound to the pulsar in a very rapid two hour orbit. The tight orbit is depicted in the image on the right, which shows how the system would fit within the diameter of our own sun.

The star in question is believed to be a millisecond pulsar, a neutron star spinning in an extremely fast rotation after siphoning off the mass of a companion celestial body. Over time, a millisecond pulsar's rotation speeds up rather than slowing down like other pulsars, increasing its rotation rate to between one and ten milliseconds.

While it's hard to imagine what resemblance the massive space diamond could bear to the diamonds some of us covet here on Earth, scientists are now examining similar orbital systems for more crystalline planets in the rough.

Science Mag via Reuters

[Image credit: NASA, Swinburne Astronomy Productions]

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