A star made of diamond's! Could this planet supply diamonds for all of our diamond engagement rings?

1/09/2011

It was reported recently that astronomers have discovered a planet that appears to be made entirely of diamond, flying around in our galactic back garden! Of all of the planets known to us this one seems to be primarily made up of carbon. Scientist calculate that the carbon must be crystalline because it is to dense – effectively making this planet a diamond (or at least largely a diamond)! Matthew Bailes of Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne has been quoted that it is in essence “a massive diamond orbiting a neutron star every two hours in an orbit so tight it would fit inside our own Sun.”

The planet is roughly an eighth of the way towards the centre of the Milky Way, roughly 4,000 light years away from the Earth. It has been reported that the current measurements suggest that the planet which orbits its star every 2 hours and 10 minutes, has slightly more mass than Jupiter but is 20 times denser. It is possible that the planet is the remains of a once huge star that has lost its outer layers to the pulsar star that it orbits. Pulsars are small, rotating neuron stars that release a beam of electromagnetic radiation. Despite knowing this, it is not yet know what the planet will look like close up, however some claim that it would not be the type of shiny object we may expect.

Although it seems, unlikely that this planet will be harnessed in the near future to bring us at Mad About Diamonds new gemstones, we still have a great range of solitaire diamond engagement rings! If you are also interested in creating your own diamond engagement rings, we are able to produce handmade engagement rings, to your taste! For more information on our beautiful collection please call 0151 632 7747.

Posted by SMG