Next time you look up into the sky and see the twinkling lights above, you will have a little different perspective of it all. Recently a new planet was discovered known as PSR J1719-1438. Not a very fancy name for a very magnificent planet. This planet was formed from a dead star that was originally formed from the ashes of a super nova.
Nothing really unusual about that. And the planet is about 5 times the size of earth but that is not it's most outstanding feature. Because of the super pressure of this planet which orbits a rapidly pulsing neutron star, the carbon within it has crystallized into a diamond. The planet orbits it's pulsar sun in little more than two hours and is actually 3,000 times larger than it. The entire system would fit into the diameter of our sun.
Originally this planet was transformed from an average star into a radio pulsar when a dying star in a binary system exploded. The compact core of the star was formed because of a very high rotation speed from the ashes of the supernova. When a second star exploded and morphed into a white dwarf, the pulsar planet began to suck off the mass from it therefore causing it to spin faster and faster until it reached it's incredible speed. It is now known to complete more than 10,000 rotations in a minute. After having lost more than 99.9 percent of its original mass and no longer engaged in the fusion reactions that make up a star, the dead core is now classified as a planet.
This planet is considered to be very safe however from the greedy clutches of mankind because it is about 4,000 light years away from earth located in the constellation of Serpens (The Snake) So the glitter of this rough diamond of a planet will continue to shine undisturbed for a very long time as it follows it's rotation in space.
Nothing really unusual about that. And the planet is about 5 times the size of earth but that is not it's most outstanding feature. Because of the super pressure of this planet which orbits a rapidly pulsing neutron star, the carbon within it has crystallized into a diamond. The planet orbits it's pulsar sun in little more than two hours and is actually 3,000 times larger than it. The entire system would fit into the diameter of our sun.
Originally this planet was transformed from an average star into a radio pulsar when a dying star in a binary system exploded. The compact core of the star was formed because of a very high rotation speed from the ashes of the supernova. When a second star exploded and morphed into a white dwarf, the pulsar planet began to suck off the mass from it therefore causing it to spin faster and faster until it reached it's incredible speed. It is now known to complete more than 10,000 rotations in a minute. After having lost more than 99.9 percent of its original mass and no longer engaged in the fusion reactions that make up a star, the dead core is now classified as a planet.
This planet is considered to be very safe however from the greedy clutches of mankind because it is about 4,000 light years away from earth located in the constellation of Serpens (The Snake) So the glitter of this rough diamond of a planet will continue to shine undisturbed for a very long time as it follows it's rotation in space.
CREDIT: Swinburne Astronomy Productions
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