Astronomers spy 10 billion trillion trillion-carat diamond (Vey Hugh!)

Sac Bee ^ | 2/13/04 | AP - LA

[RightOnline]

No, EggsAckley............I think ovrtaxt nailed it perfectly.

[StriperSniper]

Nuke it!

LOL!

I doubt that would scratch it, better try a chunk of antimatter the size of a small moon. ;-)

[varon]

Kobe Bryant's wife will have that puppy on her hand by Christmas ;-)

[dr_lew]

Calling this a diamond is rather a stretch. From Astronomers Find a Huge Diamond in Space: "It is 2,500 miles across and weighs 5 million trillion trillion pounds, which translates to approximately 10 billion trillion trillion carats, or a one followed by 34 zeros."

That works out to 66647 kg/cc, compared to 0.0035 kg/cc for diamond. ( By my calculation. )

The tremendous density of a white dwarf is possible because all the electrons have been squeezed into conduction bands, leaving the nuclei to interact among themselves. This already happens at the center of the sun, where the density is about 300 times that of water, but there the nuclei are still spread thin, so that they form a gas.

At the higher densities of a neutron star, the nuclei are much closer together and the claim is that they condense into a crystalline phase wherein they retain a regular spacing.

This is nothing to do with diamond, notwithstanding that these are carbon nuclei. The salient feature of diamond is the tetravalent bonding which gives it the eponymous "diamond structure", and this is completely lacking in the white dwarf.

[NormsRevenge]

cool universe indeed ... boggles one's mind sometimes..

[dr_lew]

At the higher densities of a neutron star, the nuclei are much closer together and the claim is that they condense into a crystalline phase wherein they retain a regular spacing.

Oops. I meant, "At the higher densities of a white dwarf ..."

[Swordmaker]

I just spoke to the International Star Registry people and for a mere $49.95 I have renamed this diamond star for Mrs. Swordmaker.

Beat you all the the punch... and its official too... they "registered it, it in book form, with the US Copyright office"... so there!

[Alamo-Girl]

Very interesting. Maranatha!!

[William Tell]

dr_lew said: This is nothing to do with diamond, notwithstanding that these are carbon nuclei. The salient feature of diamond is the tetravalent bonding which gives it the eponymous "diamond structure", and this is completely lacking in the white dwarf.

Now, for extra credit...

Would there be a pressure gradient along a radius of the star?

Would the pressure gradient result in a density gradient?

Would the resulting density near the surface allow for anything remotely "resembling" diamond?

[ovrtaxt]

Wow, sorry about the tagline problem. I've been using it for weeks off and on. I also had taglines referring to the Communist Manifesto and Nafta in the same regard, but it seems the FR powers that be have deleted them for me.

Funny, I haven't had issue one with FR administration since I've been here, up until about 2 months ago.

Is it me, am I just suddenly now more offensive and over the top, or does FR have new blood in the Admin group? Perhaps we should all just get castrated and talk like pundits on a cable news channel.

Remember Debbie Schlussel? After 911 she got on TV and stated that the US should work toward a policy of converting Muslims to Christianity. The howling and screaming was deafening. I thought she was absolutely right. Is FR getting to be like that?

[EggsAckley]

If you'll read several of my previous posts, you'll see that I retracted my objections. Sorry.

[js1138]

Are they Sirius?

[Guillermo]

DeBeer's is well on their way in plotting a "solution" to not owning this diamond...

[Guillermo]

I think the scientific term for "10 billion trillion trillion" is a gazillion.

[Sofa King]

I though it was 10^34...

[ovrtaxt]

Yes, I saw that. I'm glad it grew on you over time! :)

[EggsAckley]

Well, my excuse is that I have a raging tooth infection, and when the pain pills wear off, I go nuclear. Bad timing.

[anymouse]

Cute cat pic ping

[anymouse]

Who says there is no reason to go into space? It reminds me of that Bugs and Daffy cartoon where Daffy gets shrunk by the genie and comes after the pearly that Bugs finds in an oyster at the beach. Daffy saying "It's mine, mine, all mine!" :)

[getitright]

I was always told that the proper term for "10 billion trillion trillion" is "leventy jillion."