Planet Made of Diamond Discovered

[Phoenix_Sacred]

Came across this on cbc.ca and thought it was pretty interesting.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/08/26/science-diamond-planet.html

Planet made of diamond discovered

The discovery of a small, fast-spinning star known as a pulsar has led astronomers to detect a companion planet, likely made of diamond.

This is only the second time a planetary mass has been found orbiting a pulsar. The first planetary system outside of our solar system was discovered around a pulsar in 1992.

The international research team led by Matthew Bailes of the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne published its findings in the journal Science.

Co-investigator Willem van Straten, also at Swinburne, said that this millisecond pulsar (MSP), so named because it rotates thousands of times per second, was detected in the Milky Way galaxy by the Parkes radio telescope.

"To date, we've discovered 20 millisecond pulsars in the High Time Resolution Universe survey. All of them are in binary systems [where one object orbits around another], but only this one has a companion with a planet-like mass," said van Straten.

He added that pulsars have a strong gravitational field and are about the size of a small city, 20 kilometres in diameter.

"If you were to squash a 13-metre cube of steel down into a teaspoon — this is the density of a pulsar."

As pulsars spin, they emit a regular, clock-work radio beam — similar the light from lighthouse. Tiny fluctuations in the radio signals from the pulsar, known as PSR J1719-1438, suggested something was pulling on it.

Further information about the pulsar was collected by two other radio telescopes, one in England and the other in Hawaii. This revealed that a small companion planet is orbiting the pulsar every 2.2 hours.

Former star
It is likely the planetary body is all that remains of a once massive star that has lost 99.9 per cent of its original mass to leave it a shadow of its former self — just five times bigger than Earth.

But, despite its small size, the planet has slightly more mass than Jupiter.

"This remnant is likely to be largely carbon and oxygen, because a star made of lighter elements like hydrogen and helium would be too big to fit the measured orbiting times," said CSIRO scientist and study co-author Michael Keith.

The density means that this material is certain to be crystalline: that is, a large part of the star may be similar to a diamond.

The team also calculated that the distance between the pulsar and its planetary companion is approximately 600,000 kilometres, 1.5 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

Both are located 4,000 light years away in the constellation of Serpens (the snake), one eighth of the distance to the centre of our galaxy.

"We are still interested in seeing if we can see the companion planet — if one side is [always] facing the pulsar (tidally-locked), we should be able to see it being heated up by the radiation. An orbital variation in the brightness would tell us that one side of the planet is basically being roasted," says van Straten.

According to van Straten, the Parkes telescope was used for the survey because it can scan the sky 13 times faster than "your average telescope."

"We point the telescope at a patch of sky for nine to 10 minutes and look for radio signals that occur periodically. You end up with a lot of candidates and then have to rule out interference," he says.

For every 10 minutes of data collected it takes several hours of computing power to sift through it. The astronomers estimate enough data to fill 40,000 high-capacity DVDs was generated in the search for PSR J1719-1438.

But he added that the 'holy grail' of the survey would be to find a pulsar that is orbiting a black hole.

"This would be the biggest prize because you could study the structure of space time in the vicinity of the black hole ... and it would allow us to test Einstein's theory of gravity, known as general relativity."

[RandallS]

Came across this on cbc.ca and thought it was pretty interesting.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/08/26/science-diamond-planet.html

I hate the way the headline writer turned this statement in the article "The density means that this material is certain to be crystalline: that  is, a large part of the star may be similar to a diamond" in a definite "Planet made of diamond discovered." :stop:

[Altair]

I hate the way the headline writer turned this statement in the article "The density means that this material is certain to be crystalline: that  is, a large part of the star may be similar to a diamond" in a definite "Planet made of diamond discovered." :stop:

Yeah, but it's cool to visualize in the mind's eye, isn't it?

[RandallS]

Yeah, but it's cool to visualize in the mind's eye, isn't it?

Well, yes, I guess it is. However, I just think headlines like that confuse things because more people will remember the headlines than the details.

[victoreia]

Well, yes, I guess it is. However, I just think headlines like that confuse things because more people will remember the headlines than the details.

 
Heh. That headline just reminded me of Arthur C. Clarke's 2010. :ninja:

[BunnyMaz]

Heh. That headline just reminded me of Arthur C. Clarke's 2010. :ninja:

 
I headr the planet was believed to be almost entirely carbon-based.  That, combined with crystalline density, would mean that it is technically diamond, I think.

But yeah, news articles regarding scientific discoveries, statements and investigations generally piss me off!  There's nothing quite like "possible correlation between cheese consumption and foot size found in mice insmall, non-conclusive study" transforming into "eating cheese gives you big feet!" to make my inner scientist froth.

[RandallS]

I headr the planet was believed to be almost entirely carbon-based.  That, combined with crystalline density, would mean that it is technically diamond, I think.

If it is truly almost entirely carbon, probably. However, enough impurities and you could get some really weird stuff if I remember what I've read correctly. And I really doubt we are that sure of the composition.

[victoreia]

If it is truly almost entirely carbon, probably. However, enough impurities and you could get some really weird stuff if I remember what I've read correctly. And I really doubt we are that sure of the composition.

 
You mean...we can't just wish it so? Well, darn, there goes my retirement plan. :p

[RandallS]

You mean...we can't just wish it so? Well, darn, there goes my retirement plan. :p

Even if it is a solid hunk of diamond, there's the small matter of getting there and back with some of it before you retire. :yikes:

[Waldhexe]

I hate the way the headline writer turned this statement in the article "The density means that this material is certain to be crystalline: that  is, a large part of the star may be similar to a diamond" in a definite "Planet made of diamond discovered." :stop:

LOL, I had an image pop into my head of a diamond planet on the viewscreen of the enterprise and wondered if I have misread the headline. Sounds still more credible than a planet of cheese, but well...

[Waldhexe]

Even if it is a solid hunk of diamond, there's the small matter of getting there and back with some of it before you retire. :yikes:

 
A good motivation to quickly invent warp drive isn't it? :p

[Phoenix_Sacred]

Even if it is a solid hunk of diamond, there's the small matter of getting there and back with some of it before you retire. :yikes:

It would be quite good thing if we could get there lol, if it was at all do-able. Diamonds are more than a pretty rock, they have many uses in today's industry.

[BunnyMaz]

If it is truly almost entirely carbon, probably. However, enough impurities and you could get some really weird stuff if I remember what I've read correctly. And I really doubt we are that sure of the composition.

 
Good point.  Although, the impurities sound WAY more interesting than pure diamond.  Before I got so poor I had to sell it, I had a plate-sized chunk of amethyst, loads of little spears and points all in one great mass, and the gems on one side were all shot through with little black spears that looked as though they'd penetrated the gem then been absorbed a ways, like splinters when they wriggle into your finger and the skin heals over.

Never did figure out what they were.  But I spent more time looking at those and appreciating them than at the "perfect" amethyst piece someone bought me as a gift before then.

Just imagine what sort of formations you might get on a planet-sized diamond.  A world of carbon, compressed and deformed and hit with endless meteors bringing in all kinds of new chemicals.  The mind boggles.

Crystalline life?  Carbon is a building block, after all.  We might find that just heading out to mine the planet isn't an option after all /end speculative scifi frothing

[KittyVel]

Yeah, but it's cool to visualize in the mind's eye, isn't it?

 
It sure is!  The image I had in mind was similar to a giant disco ball, but prettier.  XD

That's really interesting.  My dad loved this article!  :3