Astronomers discover gigantic diamond in space

[jsr]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/11/us-space-diamond-planet-idUSBRE89A0PU20121011

Astronomers discover gigantic diamond in space
By Chris Wickham

(Reuters) - Astronomers have discovered a planet twice the size of Earth made largely out of diamond which is orbiting a star that is visible with the naked eye.

The rocky planet, called '55 Cancri e', orbits a sun-like star 40 light years away 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.

[gateley]

1. We'll see Ann Romney sporting it before too long.

[RKP5637]

4. Yep!

[navarth]

6. goddam it you beat me to that one. nt

[hauweg]

7. Extreme offshoring Romney style

[a geek named Bob]

2. interesting

I remember a talk given by Hal Clement about this kind of configuration.

[Berlum]

3. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky

[FourScore]

8. Good one. n/t

[snooper2]

10. This calls for a music video

greatness

[gateley]

22. And this one

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=vwc0AW67CmA&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dvwc0AW67CmA

[pinboy3niner]

31. Here it is...

[gateley]

32. How did you do that? What didn't I do?

[pinboy3niner]

33. Going from that linked page to the vid didn't work for me either

That url wouldn't embed. But when I did a separate google search on the title and went to the vid from there, copying the url worked.

Don't ask me to explain it.

[gateley]

34. Haha! I love you, pinboy3niner! I'll try it your way next time -- thanks!

[opiate69]

37. Sometimes people (well mostly Labels) block embedding when they post vids on Youtube

[pinboy3niner]

40. That may well be the case here

The link that wouldn't embed was the label's recording; the link I embedded was a vid of a live TV performance of the same song.

On the other hand, maybe they're just screwing with gately.

[RKP5637]

5. Diamond market on earth plunges by 99.5% upon receipt of news! n/t

[FourScore]

9. De Beers will lock it away in safety vault, never to be seen again. n/t

[NYC_SKP]

11. Shine on, you crazy diamond...

[pinboy3niner]

17. Diamond Girl / Sure do shine

[gateley]

23. I LOVE David Gilmour!

How do you get the Vid embedded like that? I just tried but blew it.

[pinboy3niner]

24. For Youtube vids, just copy the url from your address bar

Paste it in your DU post, et viola!

[gateley]

25. Thanks! I guess I was trying to make it more complicated! Story of my life!

[gateley]

26. Sigh.

[pinboy3niner]

28. Didn't work?

[gateley]

30. It just posted the link -- not the cool embedded thing with the Play button.

Scroll up a few, you can see my failure.

[E-Z-B]

12. Shine on, you crazy diamond

[knitter4democracy]

13. Already knew--Dr. Who showed it years ago.

http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Midnight

They got the name wrong, though.

[slackmaster]

14. It will immediately lose 75% of its resale value as soon as someone claims it

[sinkingfeeling]

15. Say 'hi' to the planet, Elizabeth! (Taylor)

[Evasporque]

16. It is not enough for Romney Republicans...they want all precious metal and stone planets...

Not just one...

[EOTE]

18. That math doesn't seem right to me.

"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). "

If the radius is twice that of Earth's, wouldn't the density be the same as Earth's if it were in fact 8 times as massive? As a 3-dimensional object such as a sphere expands in radius, the mass of the object increases by a power of 3. As such, 2^3 = 8. So given that this object has 8 times the mass of Earth and twice the radius, it should have pretty much the same density.

[jsr]

21. You're right.

Don't know why Reuters wrote it like that.

"The mean density is comparable to that of Earth"
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1104.5230v3.pdf

[Enrique]

41. good catch

edit: they seem to have corrected it, they probably got a million angry emails about their flub.

Discovered by a U.S.-Franco research team, its radius is twice that of Earth's with a mass eight times greater. That would give it the same density as Earth, although previously observed diamond planets are reckoned to be a lot more dense. It is also incredibly hot, with temperatures on its surface reaching 3,900 degrees Fahrenheit (1,648 Celsius).

[Whisp]

19. diamond mine

[Zalatix]

20. Welcome to planet DeBeers 9000

[Historic NY]

27. Thats some bauble.

[Agnosticsherbet]

29. This makes "A Diamond as Big as the Ritz" chickenfeed. n/t

[Auntie Bush]

35. Expect a lot of research on how to work in 3,900 degrees.

Romney will suggest more funds for research to beat the Russians and Chinese to all those sparkly diamonds for his wife. He'd probably pay for the research himself if necessary. If we're lucky he'll make the trip himself and get burnt to a crisp!.
I have a good mental picture of that.

[whistler162]

36. Is there a moon called Lucy?

[KamaAina]

38. A U.S.-Franco research team?

I thought Generalissimo Francisco Franco was still dead.

They must have meant a Franco-U.S. team; a Franco-American team would be more likely to discover a planet made of canned spaghetti.

[MineralMan]

39. It's just Judy in Disguise, I'm sure.

[NYC_SKP]

42. I thought it was "Judy in the Skies"...

.

But then I also thought that Hendrix sang, "Scuse me while I kiss this guy."

Bowb bowb boww.... boww boww bowWW... bow boww boWWW!

.

.

[MineralMan]

43. With Acid.

It's OK, though. There's a bathroom on the right.