PSR J1719 -1438 was observed in 2009 by a team headed by Matthew Bailes of Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, but the discovery was just publicly released in an article journal Science on August 25, 2011
We need to come up with a better name that PSR J1719-1438 b. Any suggestions? “Lucy” after the Beatles song? We will have to look for the tangerine trees and marmalade skies and, of course, the cellophane flowers of yellow and green.
The planet has a exceptionally high density and consists of mainly carbon. Scientists speculate that the result of the density is that the carbon is crystalline – making much of the planet diamond.
When I told the kids last night about the planet, one observed that it would probably mean that Earth rocks would be hugely valuable and sought after by the Diamondites — our name for the denizens on the planet.
Not much else is known about the planet except that it orbits its star every two hours and 10 minutes and has slightly more mass than Jupiter but is 20 times as dense. It may also have oxygen in its atmosphere.
We have however put our leading expert on the case . . .
A kiss on the hand may be quite continental
But diamonds are a girl’s best friend
A kiss may be grand… but it won’t pay the rental on your humble flat
Or help you at the automat
Men grow cold as girls grow old
And we all lose our charms in the end
But square cut or pear shape these rocks don’t lose their shape
Diamonds are a girl’s best friend