WEIRDEST PLACES IN THE UNIVERSE
SPACE ODDITIES
TAKE A TOUR OF THE WEIRDEST SPOTS IN THE UNIVERSE, WHERE THE ‘NORMAL’ RULES DON’T APPLY. PLACES THAT SQUEEZE TIME, BLOW BUBBLES AND EVEN RAIN GLASS… SIDEWAYS
WORDS: COLIN STUART
THE DIAMOND PLANET
PLANET 55 CANCRI E
SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Forty-one light-years away lies a star known as either 55 Cancri, or Copernicus. Ripping around it at a roaring pace is the planet 55
Cancri e, also called Janssen. The planet takes a little over 17 hours to complete an orbit.
At eight times the mass of Earth, 55 Cancri e is a scorched super-Earth. The temperature climbs as high as 2,400°C (4,350°F) – enough to melt almost every type of metal.
Back in 2010, a study concluded that the carbon-to-oxygen ratio of the planet’s host star was unusually high. If that ratio also exists on 55 Cancri e, then, combined with the planet’s vital statistics, models suggest that the carbon would mostly exist in diamond form. It would be a blazingly hot planet that scintillates and sparkles.
The situation may be more nuanced, however. A follow up study found a carbon-to-oxygen ratio that was still higher than the Sun’s, but less than previously believed. That leaves the diamond idea on a more unsure footing.
That said, planets don’t have to exactly match the carbon-oxygen ratio of their host stars. If the carbon on 55 Cancri e was topped up from some other source, it could still be the most precious planet in the known Universe.