Pulsar with a Diamond Planet [1080p]

Astronomers have discovered the densest extrasolar planet yet: A Jupiter-mass remnant of a carbon- and oxygen-rich star that measures no more than 55,000 km (31,000 mi.) across. The odd world, whose density is on average at least 23 g/cm³ (0.80 lb/in³) -- or about twice that of lead -- is probably crystalline and possibly largely composed of ultradense diamond.

The planet orbits its parent sun—a pulsar, or a rapidly-spinning neutron star that emits an intense beam of radio waves, dubbed PSR J1719-1438—once every 2 hours and 10 minutes, the researchers reported online on August 25, 2011 in Science. The planet's orbit measures about 600,000 km (373,000 mi.) across, only 50% more than the average distance from Earth to the moon.

How such a dense planet formed is unclear, the researchers say, but it's probably the crystalline vestige of a white dwarf star whose atmosphere was stripped away by the parent pulsar. Most of the pulsars that spin faster than once per 20 milliseconds are part of a binary star system, but about 30% have no companions whatsoever, the scientists note. Only one other rapidly-spinning pulsar is known to be orbited by Earth-mass planets—a sign that exotic planets such as this megadiamond are, like their Earthly counterparts, rare indeed.

credit: Swinburne Astronomy Productions (animation); AAAS (text)

source: http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/production/pulsar/

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• pulsar
• diamond planet
• supernova
• J1719-1438

[lvll138inrs]

if its not possible to go faster then the speed of light is there any way we can travel vast amount of distances in a short period of time?

[djxatlanta]

@lvll138inrs - the spice melange. ;-)

[jamieball]

Very interesting, Pulsars are incredibly fascinating. It is hard to image what it would look like to be standing on the surface of a planet orbiting a pulsar.

[djxatlanta]

@jamieball - you wouldn't be looking for long -- the intense high energy radiation would kill you instantly.

[Tilbythegreat]

I wish more people would watch these videos and would comment!

I personally have nothing clever to say but would just let you know how truly awesome this video is and that I very much appreciate your channel!

[djxatlanta]

@Tilbythegreat - thank you very much for the compliments, and more importantly, thank you for watching. =)

[VidyaShow]

Your planet is now DIAMONDS

[SMS2RR]

Hopefully this planet is in MASS EFFECT 3!

[Ediranii]

wow a planet made of diamond, guess this puts an end to my investment than...

[jamieball]

@Appokalipto If a habitable planet was 1 Au from the pulsar and its orbital period was 365 days, I wonder how big the pulsar would appear in the sky looking from the surface of the planet. Perhaps it would be really small but also very bright. Maybe the The flashing star could induce an epileptic seizure!

[Appokalipto]

@jamieball it orbits the pulsar in 2 days, the velocity is so great we only could see a blur if we were close enough

[jamieball]

@djxatlanta Well yea.. thats why I said it is hard to imagine.. lets say, with the proper suit and goggles! :)

[djxatlanta]

@AbieDaFreak - no.

[SpongBobPIMPpants]

now diamond will be sell in 10.99$ for a kilo :P