Astronomers discover planet made of diamond   
   By Ben Hirschler | Reuters - Thu, Aug 25, 2011   
       
   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."   
       
   (Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Sophie Hares)   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- D'Bridge 3.64   
    * Origin: NCS BBS (1:3828/7)