Diamond planet discovered

[billcosby]

A pure carbon classic!
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...89A0PU20121011

So... anybody out there pining for a larger wedding ring? This is the stuff of classic sci-fi.

"Orbiting a star that is visible to the naked eye, astronomers have discovered a planet twice the size of our own made largely out of diamond.
The rocky planet, called '55 Cancri e', orbits a sun-like star in the constellation of Cancer and is moving so fast that a year there lasts a mere 18 hours.
Discovered by a U.S.-Franco research team, its radius is twice that of Earth's but it is much more dense with a mass eight times greater. It is also incredibly hot, with temperatures on its surface reaching 3,900 degrees Fahrenheit (1,648 Celsius).
"The surface of this planet is likely covered in graphite and diamond rather than water and granite," said Nikku Madhusudhan, the Yale researcher whose findings are due to be published in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters."

[gturner]

The planet is called DeBeers IV and it's deep in Jewelerian space.

[kythe]

This is very cool.

But I have to admit, its very bizarre. If they made a Star Trek episode where the crew found a diamond planet, I would have said it was poor writing. Who knew this could be real?

[Satyrquaze]

^Doctor Who did a bottle episode taking place on Diamond planet. It came off pretty well.

[B.J.]

They should name the planet Lucy! (...waits to see who gets that reference. )

[General_Phoenix]

B.J. wrote:

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They should name the planet Lucy! (...waits to see who gets that reference. )

..what..Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds? From The Beatles, Sgt. Peppers Album. That's the reference I got anyway.

[Zion Ravescene]

If it's as active as I hope it is, they should name it Winstone, the planet of diamond geysers.

B.J. wrote:

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They should name the planet Lucy! (...waits to see who gets that reference. )

That is so 49 years from now.

[gturner]

General_Phoenix wrote:

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..what..Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds? From The Beatles, Sgt. Peppers Album. That's the reference I got anyway.

Or it's in the Dezi system, along with its moons Ethel and Fred.

[B.J.]

General_Phoenix wrote:

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..what..Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds? From The Beatles, Sgt. Peppers Album. That's the reference I got anyway.

Partially...

ZR de los Muertos wrote:

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That is so 49 years from now.

DING!

[Silvercrest]

gturner wrote:

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Or it's in the Dezi system, along with its moons Ethel and Fred.

Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi, what did you did this time???

[Turtletrekker]

B.J. wrote:

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They should name the planet Lucy! (...waits to see who gets that reference. )

2061!

[Ryan8bit]

B.J. wrote:

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They should name the planet Lucy!

There was already a planet named Lucy:
http://www.spacetoday.org/DeepSpace/...hiteDwarf.html

A diamond planet isn't exactly a new thing.

[gturner]

Well, isn't there quite a bit of thought that Neptune might have a surface of diamonds?

[publiusr]

I remember that on a recent documentary. Uranus is similar. Now one of these ice giants (I forget which) got knocked on its side, so I wonder if some of its diamonds have been hurled about the solar system, waiting harvest. Speaking of harvest--what if two small asteroids do a head on high in earths atmosphere. Bad for spacejunk, but not below a certain level. The explosion is high enough not to be a danger, and the debris falls at terminal velocity as a rain of iron and other elements pre-melted. No crater.

[B.J.]

Ryan8bit wrote:

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There was already a planet named Lucy:
http://www.spacetoday.org/DeepSpace/...hiteDwarf.html

A diamond planet isn't exactly a new thing.

Read your own link. That was a white dwarf, not a planet.