Posted on 08/25/2011 1:12:41 PM PDT by Red Badger
“Suppose a planet of solid gold were to be found. Think there would be an expedition to try to lasso it and bring it back to earth?”
It certainly would push forward our space program. :0)
Upon harvesting it, Gold would be worth nothing.
The value of a diamond is mostly tied to scarcity. If it’s not scarce anymore, the value plummets.
SC - Have you seen this post?
...Call Tim “Taylor” Allen...
Well I don’t think it’s possible to be a double neutron binary because at that recorded distance from each other they would have collided and created a black hole and sent massive jets of gamma and x rays out.
This diamond star is where Al Gore has been storing all his carbon offsets.
Diamonds really aren’t that scarce..jewelry grade diamonds are.
I swear there was a Twilight Zone episode from the ‘60s based on this same premise. Two astronauts landed on an asteroid made of diamond and had to make a decision on what to leave behind. Can’t find it in the episode guide though. Maybe another show? I think the title was “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”
You have a good memory. Thanks for sparking my memory. It’s funny how we can remember things like that. Must be 45 years or more ago.
The closer to perfect the final cut diamond gem is, the more it will be worth. For all we know it might not be possible to chip off a portion of the “diamond planet” suitable to use for jewelry even if an expedition to it were practical. (And it’s whirling like a dervish, and its gravity at more than a solar mass combined with its very small diameter would be extremely crushing.) The world is not wanting for industrial diamond, typically black and useless for gems but every bit as hard as the gem-quality stuff, which goes for pennies a carat.
Now why didn't I think of that?
Seems like at 42,000 rpm, they might not collide. There could be forces beyond our comprehension that prevent them from colliding. At least for a while.
To say something 'could' or 'could not' happen, usually leads to finding out the opposite.
How many times have astronomers declared they found the Largest object possible in the Universe, only to find out the next week there was something else that dwarfed their original find?
For how long did man believe that the Milky Way was the entire Universe?
After reading the article at the link, perhaps this ‘planet’ Neutron Star is really just the accompanying ‘white dwarf’ that they mention, yet do not show in the video.
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