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![This is the first time planet-hunters have detected what they believe is a Jupiter-like gas ball orbiting a star much like our Sun, at a distance that allows for the possibility of an unseen Earth-type planet orbiting in between. [This graphic depiction released June 12, 2002 compares our solar system with a newfound planetary system, 55 Cancri, about 41 light years from Earth.The new system has a Jupiter-mass planet in an orbit similar to the orbit of our Jupiter. In addition, two other planets are shown orbiting 55 Cancri at distances closer than the distance between the Earth and our Sun.] REUTERS/Stringer](http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/A2aPcWXwu7KImfJYyJyx.Q--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9MzA0O2NyPTE7Y3c9NDUwO2R4PTA7ZHk9MDtmaT11bGNyb3A7aD0xMjk7cT04NTt3PTE5MA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/Reuters/2012-10-21T075749Z_1_CBRE89K0M5U00_RTROPTP_2_SPACE.JPG "This is the first time planet-hunters have detected what they believe is a Jupiter-like gas ball orbiting a star much like our Sun, at a distance that allows for the possibility of an unseen Earth-type planet orbiting in between. [This graphic depiction released June 12, 2002 compares our solar system with a newfound planetary system, 55 Cancri, about 41 light years from Earth.The new system has a Jupiter-mass planet in an orbit similar to the orbit of our Jupiter. In addition, two other planets are shown orbiting 55 Cancri at distances closer than the distance between the Earth and our Sun.] REUTERS/Stringer")
LONDON (Reuters) - Forget the diamond as big as the Ritz. This one's bigger than planet Earth.
Orbiting a star that is visible to the naked eye,
astronomers have discovered a planet twice the size of our own made
largely out of diamond.
The rocky planet,
called '55 Cancri e', orbits a sun-like star 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 and its mass is eight times greater. It is also
incredibly hot, with temperatures on its surface reaching 3,900 degrees
Fahrenheit (2,148 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.
The study - with Olivier Mousis at the Institut de Recherche
en Astrophysique et Planetologie in Toulose, France - estimates that at
least a third of the planet's mass, the equivalent of about three Earth masses, could be diamond.
Diamond planets have been spotted before but this is
the first time one has been seen orbiting a sun-like star and studied in
such detail."This is our first glimpse of a rocky world with a fundamentally different chemistry from Earth," Madhusudhan said, adding that the discovery of the carbon-rich planet meant distant rocky planets could no longer be assumed to have chemical constituents, interiors, atmospheres, or biologies similar to Earth.
David Spergel,
an astronomer at Princeton University, said it was relatively simple to
work out the basic structure and history of a star once you know its
mass and age.
"Planets are much more complex. This 'diamond-rich
super-Earth' is likely just one example of the rich sets of discoveries
that await us as we begin to explore planets around nearby stars."
"Nearby" is a relative concept in astronomy. Any fortune-hunter not dissuaded by "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz",
F.Scott Fitzgerald's jazz age morality tale of thwarted greed, will
find Cancri e about 40 light years, or 230 trillion miles, from Park
Avenue.
(This version of the story removes erroneous reference to density of planet in paragraph four.)
(Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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