Astronomers Find Diamond Star 4,000 km Wide 197
tclas writes "The cosmic diamond is a chunk of crystallized carbon, 4,000 km across, some 50 light-years from the Earth in the constellation Centaurus. It's the compressed heart of an old star that was once bright like our Sun but has since faded and shrunk. Astronomers have decided to call the star 'Lucy,' after the Beatles song 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.'"
Finally (Score:4, Funny)
De Beers will be funding NASA from now on!
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On the contrary. I think this will blow the de Beers cartel wide open, assuming that a FTL mining vessel could be equipped.
CmdrTaco, considered living in a GROUP HOME? (Score:5, Informative)
Gone senile? Got amnesia, you old douche?
THIS ARTICLE is SIX YEARS OLD.
FIFTY-SIX (Score:5, Funny)
But the story is not six years old. The diamond is fifty light years away.
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is from 1967. The light they saw six years ago was from about 1954.
It pre-dates Lucy by about 13 years.
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The star probably crystallized a good deal earlier, though. Even the light was a dupe.
Re:FIFTY-SIX (Score:5, Insightful)
We're splitting hairs. With the exception of the Sun, moon, and some VERY near planet/stars, every time we look up at the sky, we're looking a looooong way back into the past. Just about everything you see in the sky "happened" a long time ago. Part of the reason that SETI isn't likely to succeed. Not that it isn't a valiant effort, but anything we would "hear" would be from so long ago that the civilization we're hearing may not even exist anymore, and inversely, anyone that might "hear" our RF transmissions will not have heard them yet, and won't for a good time to come still, and when they do, they're going to "hear" Howdy Doody. Our society has evolved and advanced quit a bit since that point, and if they were to reply with similar tech hoping to communicate, we won't be receiving that transmission for quite some time past *that*.
In short, our entire existence is so transient that, although it is great hubris to think we're alone, the end result is the same. We probably *are not* alone, but we'll very likely never meet any "others".
This whole discussion always sets me back into depression, realizing how short and pointless our own existence is. We scramble around, trying to be the best amongst our own, and sadly the whole thing is no different that a bunch of ants scurrying around in a pile. The only difference is scale. We arrive, we're lucky to be here more than 60 years or so, and then we're gone. We don't get to keep any of it, we don't get anything. We exist to not exist anymore. The concept of life is really sad - you become cognizant of "self" only to realize that it is so temporary that well - anyway. Religion (in my case, Christianity) winds up speaking to this by saying in essence "you don't have to die". I struggle because believing that is to say that all of what I see above my head that happened so long ago - the one that made all of *that* somehow, someway, some*why*, inserted themselves into our existence to teach us some 2000 years ago (still, long after what we see above our heads happened), then allowed the collective "us" of a very small group of humans to murder him, and then revived three days later to pay for things the collective "we" had done wrong, so that "we" would no longer have to sacrifice the lives of other things in order to live past death.
My analytical brain just about bursts at the conflict. I can only envision God as a creator of either the "multiverse" (string theory), or just "our" universe/reality - which makes us more like rats in a cage, and even then, the compartmentalization of my psyche which wants to have faith and follow my upbringing and "believe and be saved" while all the while learning all that I can while I'm here so it can all just go away anyway.
The "human condition" is a term that gets used when you're young, and then it hits you what precisely it is. Let's not split hairs over time. On the scale of time we're dealing with, you and I are a single "tick" on that clock.
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I'd like to recommend "Star Maker" by Olaf Stapledon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Maker [wikipedia.org]
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50 light years is relatively close, cosmically speaking. It has taken 50 years from light from this diamond to reach us, thats pretty damn quick, the point of the GP is about intelligent life out there, they are likely hundreds of millions of light years away, if not more. The milky way galaxy alone (but a small drop in the bucket cosmically speaking) is 100,000 light years across, and distances only get astronomically greater from there, so yes light from this diamond is not from a "long time ago" but many
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It's not the complicated. Suppose NASA spots a supernova in 2011... it's 2000 lightyears away. That means that star actually blew up when Jesus was still a teenager.
The phrase "X actually happened at the same time as Y" is fundamentally incompatible with relativity. You unfortunately missed the point the GP was making.
Consider on Earth, you are making a phone call to somebody on the other side of the world. It goes via satellite, so you have a second or two of latency between you. Would you say that "I'm
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FTL travel does strange things to the timeline.
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If diamonds are forever, so are stories about them...
I'm now waiting for this star to transit Saturn so we can have stories about "Astronomers find giant diamond ring in space".
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That's a rather large assumption ;)
Personally I'm more worried about the vessel's construction, than how well equipped it is.
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Only if de Beers doesn't get mining rights. Else they will just store build a store house around it and keep diamonds at the artificial shortage we've come to view as the status quo.
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De Beers will be funding NASA from now on!
On the contrary. I think this will blow the de Beers cartel wide open, assuming that a FTL mining vessel could be equipped.
There's one way to find out.
De Beers, [debeers.com] has it been registered? [starregistry.com]
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So you bring back 10x more diamonds than exist on the planet to finance the trip. Only problem is, with supply up 1000%, the price will go down by two factors or more as there aren't enough uses to justify that much carbon. People will be using it instead of coal in power plants, or as a cheap gravel replacement for county roads, and there will still be too much.
There is no 3. Profit! in this scenario.
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It seems you don't understand deBeers business strategy.
They already have 1000% supply. They just restrict it in order to keep the price up.
So it would be business as usual for them, just a different source. Of course, they'd also market it as space diamonds, and charge 5x the price.
Right, and they can barely keep a lid on it now (Score:2)
The core of a diamond star is way, way more than 1000% of current supply. It's more like a billion billion percent. Not even de Beers could maintain their cartel in the face of this much supply. So I don't think that's a realistic option.
But all this is premised on the idea that this star is actually made of gem-quality diamond, which it almost certainly isn't. It's highly likely to be contaminated with all sorts of heavier elements, won't have crystallized properly, etc. So pretty much no matter how you sl
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It's more like a billion billion percent
A quintillion percent. /fixed for you
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[De Beers] already have 1000% supply. They just restrict it in order to keep the price up.
But does De Beers want to start a price war with Apollo Diamond [shopapollo.com], whose jewelry uses chemical vapor deposition diamonds that are even purer than the ones De Beers digs up?
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And what tools will you be using to extract diamond from the hot core of a dead star, exactly? This will provide some mission parameters [wikipedia.org]. cliff notes:
Although white dwarfs cool over time, none are yet thought to have cooled to less than a few thousand kelvin. It's hot enough to be incandescant; so much so that we can see its light from 50 lightyears away, even though it's only the size of the Earth.
A white dwarf is extremely dense - figure 1,000 kg / cubic centimeter. If you can approach this object wit
Re:Finally (Score:5, Insightful)
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Oh noes! if you remove the self gravity the diamond will collapse? What a ripoff. That's why diamonds that rely on the electromagnetic force are much better.
Wait a second, how do you remove the self gravity of a 4000 km wide solid object of high density?
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Unless you plan on bringing the whole star home (fun for everyone when it absorbs Earth), the force of gravity on the chip you bring back will be lessened significantly once it leaves the influence of the star.
Re:That's not how they work (Score:4, Insightful)
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They just have to stop everyone else from getting access to diamonds, which would cause the price to fall.
Or just stop buying diamonds...
Screw up their supply by eliminating demand. Also, enforce July as a "no-sex" month so we don't have people being born in April.
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Also, enforce July as a "no-sex" month so we don't have people being born in April.
Shouldn't be a problem for most of the Slashdot crowd.
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They might even want to take out the ISS (and as anyone who has seen Congo [imdb.com] can tell you
You had me until "Congo". I think the list of anyone who has seen Congo is just pretty much you and I, my friend. And that list is one person too long.
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Isn't LSD just a for of crystallized carbon? It's sounds like that's what they really found by the name.
Good (Score:2)
Good news, if this doesn't get the commercial space-race going nothing will ;)
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Diamonds are worthless
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Untrue; their extreme hardness makes them useful for many industrial applications, and their excellent thermal conductivity is valuable in many others. It *is* true that the current prices of gem-quality diamond is horribly inflated by the DeBeers cartel.
Yes, but... (Score:2)
... it's important to note that we've long had the capability to manufacture industrial diamonds - in fact, something like five times as many industrial diamonds are manufactured as are mined [wikipedia.org]. So, yeah, not worthless, but only "precious" because their supply is so tightly controlled.
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4km or 4,000km wide? (Score:3, Informative)
If its only 4km I'll let you have it.....
P.S. This BBC story is from 2004 - slow news day, Slashdot?
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P.S. This BBC story is from 2004 - slow news day, Slashdot?
And slashdot covered it then too:
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/02/14/0123206 [slashdot.org]
Kind of pathetic how often an ancient news story will work its way to the front page.
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There's a profit line in there somewhere...
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I think it is BBC site design fault and let us be forgiving to the submitter. I wrote to BBC in June 2010 for similar problem.
See below:
From: xxxx
Sent: 04 June 2010 04:26
To: NewsOnline Comments
Subject: Feedback [NewsWatch]
From: xxx
Email address: xxx
COMMENTS: Hello,
Your section "Most popular stories now" with "Most Read" seems to be
hijacked with old stories.
For instance, stories appear as most read when they are actually
very old.
Woman jailed for testicle attack - 10 February 2005
Once they appear on "
"largest" thingy (Score:2)
It is probably getting pulled up as a similar item to the "largest chocolate bar" story, which is current.
Slow day, Slashdot? (Score:5, Informative)
Over 6 years old, slow day slashdot?
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Whats worse is that I read this yesterday as it was trending on the bbc news site... and the fact that it was in an ancient layout for their site didn't cause me to spot the date either...
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And what stupid DB must the BBC use if the old template still pops up?
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"Only last month the story about Indians having small cocks, and condoms being too large, made the list for a week." They seem to replay that story about every 6-8 months. I just figured the BBC just liked to tweaks the Indians out of boredom.
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Bonus points: If you look at the "Artists Impression" picture, you'll see that it's a perfect sphere, with a perfect brilliant cut diamond in the centre! Who knew ET was a diamantaire.
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Well the star's still there at least.
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Does anyone know if there were any strange space/time anomalies around de Beers when this story first first broke? If so, we can say for certain the star-diamond isn't there now.
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2004 to 2010 is like the blink of an eye on a stellar timescale.
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http://science.slashdot.org/story/04/02/14/0123206/The-Galaxys-Largest-Diamond [slashdot.org]
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Look, the star is 50 light years away, so the fact that the news got here in just 6 years goes to show you have fast the news really is here on Slashdot. That is almost a full factor faster than light!
Great... (Score:5, Funny)
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50 light-years EACH WAY don't forget.
When you get back, she certainly won't be worth the diamond anymore - because you really won't want to 'hit that' in 100 years, even assuming you can travel at light speed ;P
And if you remember the 80's documentary "The Navigator", where he was gone 4 years and everyone else aged 12, then by extension, 100 light years will turn into 300 years.
Appropriate name for the star (Score:2)
Garbage (Score:5, Funny)
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i think i saw that stargate sg-1 episode....
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enders game + a diamond?
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"My favorite diamond only appears on the tip of the tailbone of Ethiopian babies. They...they debone the babies. I know, I know, it sounds horrible when you say it out loud. But if you saw it...stunning. Absolutely stunning." -Sarah Silverman
6 year old Dupe (Score:5, Informative)
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Are NASA using the imperial system again? (Score:2)
theres quite a difference between 4KM (title) and 4000KM (article summary)
Or are slashdot admins smoking da weed again?
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Now concentrate this time, Dougal. These chunks of crystallised carbon are very small; those are far away...
Blood diamond? (Score:3, Funny)
I'd like to see a Nigerian try to smuggle THAT diamond in his butt.
Re:Blood diamond? (Score:5, Funny)
The first part is the name of a domesticated animal of the Bovidae [wikipedia.org] family. The second part (appended immediately to the previous word) is the TLD for Sweden. The TLD for the domain is the NYSE abbreviation for Cemex SAB de CV.
Hope this helps.
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I am a Nigerian Prince and I have a URL for you, which when accessed will give you access to 10 million dollers,
Unfortunately I cannot post the link on this site, but if you visit wvw.stealyouraccountdata.c0m I can give you the direct link to near unlimited wealth!
Please to help me as if 2 thousands of people visit the site, I shall be freed from jail. I am Nigerian prince, and have lots of money, so you can be sure this no is scam. I also recently found 4,000km large diamond which I try to smuggle out from
Mondegreen (Score:2)
More info (Score:2)
SIMBAD [u-strasbg.fr]
Get rich quick scheme (Score:2)
This allows a new get rich quick scheme:
1) Fly 50 years to there at the speed of light
2) Mine the diamonds
3) Fly back 50 years
4) If you were able to get older than 100 years, you're now rich, enjoy!
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Yes, current theory (e.g. The Twins Paradox [wikipedia.org] indicates you wouldn't age at all while traveling at the speed of light. Of course, steering is also a bit difficult while traveling at that speed, and your kinetic energy would be astronomical...
In other space-based news (Score:3, Funny)
Wait... what year is this?
This Star is now Diamonds (Score:2)
Old Spice Man strikes again!
Worth it? (Score:2)
A 4000km sphere has the volume of 3.35e19 m^3. In diamond, that masses at 1.18e20 tons, or 5.9e26 carats. At $5500/carat it's worth $3e30.
Current railroad rates are 3c/ton*mile (there being no current space freight rates), so you'd pay $1e33 to bring it here.
To summarize:
A 6e26 carat diamond: $3e30
Transportation: $1e33
Giving your gold digger girlfriend an engagement ring she is not fat enough to wear: priceless
Amazing cleavage! (Score:2)
From TFA: (Score:2, Insightful)
My first thought reading the headline was, another one? Wait there's already a diamond star named Lucy.
Is there a colony of humans near this star? (Score:2)
This was the plot of an episode of Doctor Who back in 2007 ("Utopia"). In that story, Utopia was said to be a planet where the skies were made of diamonds.
Maybe the Master is on his way to our time right now to be elected Prime Minister of Great Britain?
impossible (Score:4, Funny)
This is obviously a hoax. Any early elementary school student can tell you that "diamond" and "star" are two entirely different shapes.
Not worth that much. (Score:2, Insightful)
Ah! (Score:2)
Spectra (Score:2)
Maybe affects Dark Matter? (Score:2)
Lowell discovers canals on Mars! (Score:2)
1. Link
2. Submit
3. ???
4. RTFA
Galaxy's largest diamond?? (Score:3, Interesting)
Not very likely - merely the largest diamond within 50 or so light years. How extensive a survey have we made looking for dead-star diamonds? We weren't even looking for this one, just trying to understand and explain its behavior. Likely the truly largest diamond - in the universe, not just the galaxy - will be found approaching Chandrasekhar's Limit.
Wow, old news (Score:2)
So old, I heard it in a stand-up comedy show first!
You insensitive clod! (Score:2)
Hexapodia as the key insight? (Score:2)
completely different (Score:4, Informative)
Besides being old, the article is inaccurate. What we consider a diamond consists of a lattice of carbon atoms linked by covalent bonds. This, quite simply, would not support itself against its own gravity. White dwarfs are made up of electron degenerate matter, supported by the Pauli exclusion principle. Electrons can only withstand being compressed to a certain point under this principle and that pressure offsets the inward pressure due to gravity. Covalent bonds as in a diamond would break down long before that. Yes, the star may be 100% carbon, but that doesn't make it a diamond. It's akin to saying graphite is the same as diamond since they're both 100% carbon. A carbon white dwarf is a completely different state of matter than a diamond.
Arthur C. Clarke reference (Score:2, Interesting)
The article is probably wrong. It's likely a reference to 2061, where they find that Mt. Zeus on Ganymede is a giant diamond. The message sent back to Earth is, "LUCY IS HERE".
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Actually Mt. Zeus was on Europa, not Ganymede.
The giant diamond was one of many ejected from Jupiter when it ignited in 2010 and collided with Europa.
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Actually Mt. Zeus was on Europa, not Ganymede.
Ah, thanks. The old noodle is a bit rusty - a good read back in high school!
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In the 2061 novel Jupitor underwent contraction to implode into a star. Being composed of Hydrogen and Methane (which is part carbon and part hydrogen) the emplosion caused the methane to split into its' compoent parts and the carbon was ejected as diamond which landed on Europa. I'm not sure how correct the science here is, but it sounds possible. Clark called the mountain 'Lucy' after the Beatles song. Interresting to speculate that the Beatles would still be popular in 2061, which will probably be tr
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No, our Sun is too small for a black hole. This (making "diamonds") should happen to our star, from the wiki:
Helium fusion will begin when the core temperature reaches around 100,000,000 K and will produce carbon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun#Life_cycle [wikipedia.org]
So, once it burns up all the hydrogen, then the helium will be consumed and produce the carbon, and the shiny shiny diamonds will come next, then ???, then profit!!1! Dibs!
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I think you need a bigger star to make heavier elements. One this size comes down to mostly carbon and oxygen. And what it forms cant really be a diamond, since it does have quite a bit of oxygen. But apparently it's a crystal of some sort.
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So, my basic understanding is that a star will fuse elements up to iron, so what happened to all the other elements? Is a carbon diamond the only stable thing that formed?
I believe it depends on the size of the star. Stars of this size are simply not large enough to fuse anything beyond carbon. Once it hits carbon, that's it, it stops.
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