55 cancri, the diamond planet!

Do you know there is a planet found in our universe made of diamond?

55 Cancri e could also be a super-Earth — relating to double our planet's size — that zooms around its star in eighteen days. it is a surface temperature of nearly four,900 degrees physicist (2,700 degrees Celsius). For a flash it had been dubbed the "diamond planet" as a results of scientists suggested that it had been composed of diamonds and number six. whereas that theory is not as normal currently, the planet still remains a stimulating object of study attributable to its high density and its really shut proximity to its parent star. several follow-up studies have yielded extra insights relating to its super-hot surface, additionally as its atmosphere.

Discovery and early observations

Astronomers discovered the planet in 2004 once gazing the spectrum of its parent star, fifty 5 Cancri A, one amongll|one amongst|one in each of} two stars in a very point illustration system relating to forty light-years from Earth at intervals the constellation Cancer. There unit a minimum of 4 various planets at intervals a similar system, chiefly discovered before fifty 5 Cancri e. The team (led by the University of Lone-Star State at Austin's Barbara McArthur) discovered delicate tugs on the parent star that will be explained by the presence of 1 additional planet. whereas the planet's existence was challenged by a second analysis team in 2005, a separate team in 2006 confirmed it.

Astronomers at first thought fifty 5 Cancri e (abbreviated fifty 5 Cnc e) had Associate in Nursing orbital quantity of 2.8 days, but measurements in 2011 showed that the planet is much nearer to its parent star. Observations with Canada's MOST (Microvariability & Oscillations of STars) house telescope incontestable Associate in Nursing orbital quantity of however eighteen hours. Researchers countable the temperature of fifty 5 Cancri e may be as high as four,892 F (2,700 C).

Follow-up observations with the Spitzer house Telescope in 2012 showed that fifty 5 Cancri e is much weirder than anticipated.

'Diamond planet' and losing the glint

Additionally as iron, inorganic compound and potential silicates. Lead man of science Nikku Madhusudhan, of Yale University, same that their model-was fully totally different from previous ones as a results of in distinction to previous teams, they didn't base their assumptions upon Earth's chemical composition.

However, this idea was challenged in 2013 by University of Arizona natural science pupil Johanna Teske. throughout an announcement at the time, she same the parent star of fifty 5 Cancri e is every cooler than the sun and has extra metals. She to boot same the 2012 study didn't properly analyze the sole substance line at intervals the star's spectrum, leading to potential errors. Her analysis instead found that the host star of fifty 5 Cancri e has twenty 5 or 6 extra substance than carbon.

"In theory, fifty 5 Cancri e may still have a high carbon-to-oxygen relation and be a diamond planet, but the host star does not have such a high relation," Teske same at intervals the statement. The mensurations of the exoplanet and so the measuring of the star — the measuring of the star no longer verify that."

Ongoing studies of the planet try and compute extra relating to its weird nature, though. Researchers discovered the planet victimization the uranologist house Telescope and Spitzer house Telescope, with results discovered between 2013 and 2016. variety of the theories advises relating to its surface embody volcanoes or liquid igneous rock, which could facilitate justify the wide temperature swings between day and night.