Astronomers Discover Planet Made of Diamonds

In the most stunning piece of planetary news since Pluto’s sad demotion, astronomers have found a star-orbiting land mass that is so dense its carbon is crystalline — which means it’s basically a planet made out of diamonds.

“The evolutionary history and amazing density of the planet all suggest it is comprised of carbon — i.e. a massive diamond orbiting a neutron star every two hours in an orbit so tight it would fit inside our own Sun,”  Matthew Bailes of Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia explained.

The planet, which  is thought to be slightly larger than Jupiter, is 4,000 light years away. So this discovery won’t be knocking down the price of engagement rings anytime soon.

[via Reuters]