Astronomers spot "diamond planet"

Illustration of the interior of 55 Cancri e, an extremely hot planet with a surface of mostly graphite surrounding a thick layer of diamond, below which is a layer of silicon-based minerals and a molten iron core at the center.

/ Haven Giguere

Move over, Hope Diamond. The most famous gems on Earth have new competition in the form of a planet made largely of diamond, astronomers say.

The alien planet, a so-called "super-Earth," is called 55 Cancri e and was discovered in 2004 around a nearby star in our Milky Way galaxy. After estimating the planet's mass and radius, and studying its host star's composition, scientists now say the rocky world is composed mainly of carbon (in the form of diamond and graphite), as well as iron, silicon carbide, and potentially silicates.

At least a third of the planet's mass is likely pure diamond.

"This is our first glimpse of a rocky world with a fundamentally different chemistry from Earth," lead researcher Nikku Madhusudhan of Yale University said in a statement. "The surface of this planet is likely covered in graphite and diamond rather than water and granite."

55 Cancri e is the first likely "diamond planet" to be identified around a sun-like star, though such worlds have been theorized before. Planets like this are vastly different from our Earth, which has relatively little carbon.

"By contrast, Earth's interior is rich in oxygen, but extremely poor in carbon -- less than a part in thousand by mass," said study co-author and Yale geophysicist Kanani Lee.

55 Cancri e is what's known as a super-Earth, with a radius twice as wide as that of our own planet, and a mass eight times greater. It speeds around its host star, making a full orbit in just 18 hours (Earth takes 365 days). It is so close in to the star that its surface temperature reaches a scorching 3,900 degrees Fahrenheit, making it probably way too hot for life. [Oozing Super-Earth: Images of Alien Planet 55 Cancri e]

Previous studies of this planet suggested it might actually be covered with oozing "supercritical fluids" -- high-pressure liquid-like gases -- seeping out from its rocks. But this idea was based on the assumption that 55 Cancri e had a similar chemical makeup as Earth, Madhusudhan said. The new findings suggest the planet has no water at all.

The revelation of the planet's diamond nature means that it could have very different thermal evolution and plate tectonics processes than Earth, which could create bizarre types of volcanism, seismic activity, and mountain formation.  

55 Cancri e is one of five planets encircling a sun-like star called 55 Cancri, which lies about 40 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Cancer. This star is so close it is visible to the naked eye in the night sky.

The researchers hope to make follow-up observations of this star system to better determine the star's composition and to analyze 55 Cancri e's atmosphere. This information could bolster the idea that the planet is a diamond world.

A paper reporting the new findings has been accepted for publication in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters.

You can follow SPACE.com assistant managing editor Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz. Follow SPACE.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook & Google+.

• Oozing Super-Earth: Images of Alien Planet 55 Cancri e
• Planets Large and Small Populate Our Galaxy (Infographic)
• Alien Super-Earth Goes Supercritical?

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[nzblackhat]

Keep the pictures comming. I only wish I could see these Planets myself. thanks to all the specialist who gather all the information to share. We need to learn all we can about the Universe it's our destiny for Humanity.

[Swift29]

Orbiting a distant start huh. Man I dislike this modern age. Newspapers dying, young only read texts and tweets, no one pays for proofreading, everything has to be faster than fast, to beat some other channel/website/moron. No wonder the novel is dead.

[IPonUall2]

You guys scoff at the possibilities, I see them as opportunity.
For example, we don't need to go to planets to find precious metals.
The local Ort cloud should have all the mineral deposits we need to build in space all the orbiting platforms, space ships, and smelting can be done on the surface.
The future is there. We just need to stop all the fighting, agree there is no god, and get out there to start our trek among the stars.

[fozzybearo]

It is to our knowlege that the people living on dimond mine 5 have been building weapons of mass destuction and it is our obligation to go to war with them, as well as their naghbor oilfield 5 the slightly smaller planet filled with a dark black substance we belive is more weapons

[Jonseen]

Apparently heaven is paved with purest gold, and the foundation stones of the City of God are made of huge precious gems. So now we know where they get it from. Possibly the various planets are designed for producing large quantities of pretty gems and metals for heavenly comfort and delight.

Some of us will enjoy this thought. For all the others who are annoyed; you can still get in on the blessings. It's not too late. Yet.

[aintfakin]

I'm not into jewelry
what about the virgins?>

[tudognight]

To Aintfakin......those virgins would be really ugly dudes. Sorry the Koran did not specify women!

[1notrub11]

"its surface temperature reaches a scorching 3,900 degrees Fahrenheit, making it probably way too hot for life."

"Probably" is most certainly an understatement. The surface temperature well exceeds the melting point of the vast majority of common metals (http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/melting-temperature-metals-d_860.html). "Life" would most likely require some type of mixed compound structure to be viable.

"Way too hot for life as we know it" would have been better wording. Lol

[fbure]

I get that it is highly unlikely any life form could live there (or even vacation for that matter), and even if they did they wouldn't be a threat to us. As soon as they would set foot on our planet they would freeze up, just the same way molten metal does at ambient temperature.
What I don't get is how "the rocky world is composed mainly of carbon (in the form of diamond and graphite)" hasn't just burnt up in a flash like diamonds normally do when exposed to more reasonnable fire temperature.

[IPonUall2]

melting points are relative to pressure.

[MrsHippy]

I just spotted "ELVIS."

[MIO42]

Zha Zha Gabor says that's where Heaven is?

[Observer1504]

Actually diamonds are not all that rare. Their distribution and pricing are controlled by De Beers. If every diamond in their vaults were to be put on the market the price would almost drop to junk jewelry.

[IPonUall2]

That's why a diamond's value hasn't risen like the price of gold has over the last decade either.
I believe diamonds are now reproducible with less flaws and greater quality.

[Valhalla0907]

A diamond vent has been discovered in Canada, and DeBeers has moved in like an invading army, complete with spies. The article is in Discover Magazine.

[KansasCity-2012]

Carbon requires extreme pressure and heat to transform into diamonds. We see that diamonds do not appear naturally on the Earth, but instead are created from large meteorite or asteroid impacts against carbon rich deposits on earth, which suggests a land mass over a water covered area at the time of impact.

The diamond planet find is not far fetched and quite plausible. More than likely, it is a planet with a carbon rich surface, absent of gaseous atmosphere, and extremely hot.

[CuriousServant]

True that most diamonds are formed by meteor impacts, except those diamonds are not the sort of diamonds we think of, namely ones used for jewelry. Those sorts of diamonds are used for industrial purposes. The jewelry type ARE made "naturally" but the pressures found in columns of rising carbon in volcanoes and such.