Another planet made of diamonds? It's more likely than you think!
In December 2010, the Israel Diamond Portal Blog wrote about a diamond-studded celestial body known as WASP-12b that Princeton University researchers determined to have a core of diamonds and graphite.
Almost prophetically, head researcher Nikku Madhusudhan said at the time that if other planets could be found that contain more carbon than oxygen and have solid surfaces, their ordinary rock would be made of diamonds and graphite rather than silicon and oxygen compounds.
Now, an international team of scientists led by Australia's Prof. Matthew Bailes has identified an entire planet made out of diamond. The planet rotates a pulsar that bears the prosaic name PSR J1719-1438.
The scientists studying the new diamond planet estimate that its diameter is five times that of the Earth and its mass is slightly heavier than Jupiter.
The proximity of the diamond planet to its pulsar has also led the team to surmise that the planet is actually a white dwarf – a star that has lost its outer layers and 99.9 percent of its original mass.