A recent discovery made by astronomers shows that a new planet was born from a dead star and seems to be made of diamond. The discovery was made and officially published on August 25 2011.
The planet is located 4,000 light years away from the center of the Milky Way. The planet is believed to be a remnant of a once massive star that has lost its outer layers to the “pulsar” star that the planet currently orbits.
The new planet is so dense compared to any other known one and consists mostly of carbon. The dense carbon implicates that it is crystal in form and suggests that it is made of diamond.
Diamonds are known to be made out of carbon. They are formed at high-pressure and high-temperature conditions at depths of 140-190 kilometers in the earth’s mantle. Carbon-containing minerals provide the carbon source, and the growth occurs over periods from 1 billion to 3.3 billion years.
The planet is a massive diamond orbiting a neutron star every two hours and ten minutes. This suggests that its size is enough to fit inside our own sun. The planet has slightly more mass than Jupiter but 20 times as dense.
Aside from carbon, the planet also contains oxygen which is more dominant on the surface. It does not contain any Hydrogen and Helium which is commonly found in gas giants like Jupiter.
Its detection was monitored by astronomers through the emission of beams by the Pulsar star – J1719-1438. Pulsar stars are rapidly spinning and considered “dead”. The gravitational pull made by the planet created modulations (irregular movements) making it detectable.
Astronomers think that the planet is supposed to be a white dwarf that was not able to merge with its companion. The star lost a lot of its matter and moved out to a safe distance. Its dead core permanently classifies it as a planet.
