Surprise! Alien Planet Made of Diamond Discovered
by Nola Taylor Redd, SPACE.com Contributor
Date: 25 August 2011 Time: 02:01 PM ET
| 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. CREDIT: Swinburne Astronomy Productions |
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.
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