Diamond planet discovered

                             




In a breathtaking discovery, Astronomers have spotted a planet which seems to be made up of the most precious stone diamond racing around a tiny star in our galactic backyard.

The new planet is far denser than any other known so far and consists largely of carbon. Because of its density scientists have calculated it to be made up of diamonds.
"The evolutionary history and amazing density of the planet all suggest it is comprised of carbon -- i.e. a massive diamond orbiting a neutron star every two hours in an orbit so tight it would fit inside our own Sun," said Matthew Bailes of Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne .

The diamond planet was found as part of an ongoing search for pulsating stars, known as pulsars, which scientists like to use as probes.

The parent star of the planet is a special kind of flashing star known as a millisecond pulsar, a vigrously  rotating neutron star formed from a supernova. The entire system, which is only the second of its kind ever discovered, is located about 4,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Serpens (The Snake). 

"You would need a jeweler's loupe the size of the Sun to grade this diamond!" says astronomer Travis Metcalfe (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), who leads a team of researchers that discovered the giant gem.