A Planet Made of Diamonds

10 months ago
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About 40 light years away, there's a Super-Earth planet that could be made of diamonds. It's officially called 55
Cancrie and was discovered in 2004. With twice the size of Earth and almost nine times the mass, 55 Cancri e is no ordinary planet. It lies so close to its star that it completes a full orbit in just 18 hours. Astronomers believe that up to a third of the planet's mass could be carbon. And in extreme pressure conditions and scorching temperatures of 2500° C, carbon could be highly pressurized in the form of graphite and diamond mixed with iron and other elements. The planet's surface may be covered in mountains and valleys of sparkling diamonds. Or it may have a liquid diamond ocean, a slushy mixture of liquid and solid diamond, unlike anything found on Earth.

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