ODDITY: Astronomers discover diamond planet

Interesting news can come from anywhere, even outer space. I read the this item at the Planet Ark website, www.PlanetArc.org. It was prepared by the Thompson Reuters news agency.

Astronomers have found a new planet apparently made of diamond. It races around a tiny star, completing an orbit every two hours and 10 minutes. The planet is far denser than others and consists largely of carbon, meaning the planet is effectively a diamond.

Astronomers also theorize that as well as carbon the new planet likely contains oxygen, with greater amounts near its surface. The high density is said to indicate the absence of lighter elements such as hydrogen and helium.

The planet is probably the remnant of a massive star that has lost its outer layers to the pulsar it orbits. A pulsar is a tiny, dead neutron start perhaps 20 km in diameter; they spin hundreds of times a second, emitting beams of radiation. Pulsar J1719-1438, around which the diamond orbits, has been tracked by telescopes in Hawaii, Australia and Britain. Astronomers are able to detect modulations due to the gravitational pull of the planet that remains unseen.

I wondered what effect the capture of this diamond - and I imagine it is huge - would do the diamond prices on Earth. After all, the little planet is only 4,000 light years away. First, we mine the moon. Then we go after giant diamonds in the sky.

Meanwhile, Earth has many more treasures worthy of the mining industry's attention.