13. A Diamond-Rich Planet
Found Year: 2011.
Mathew Bailes et al. found it.
Place: PSR J1719-1438 b
As they say, if diamonds are indeed “forever,” then the pulsar planet found in 2011 by Mathew Bailes and colleagues will last forever. PSR J1719-1438 b weighs almost the same as Jupiter, making it the densest planet that is known to science. Still, there’s a very excellent reason for its weight.
Diamond-Rich Planet ©Shutterstock/Bjoern Wylezich
If Rio Tinto had been able to obtain PSR J1719-1438, it would have been in business heaven. It is thought that all of the diamonds on the surface of this pulsar planet were formed from closely spaced carbon deposits a few billion years ago. Imagine a diamond mine the size of a metropolis with a circumference of over 12 miles.
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