After NASA is done exploring Mars with the Curiosity rover, it should plan a mission to 55 Cancri e. Never heard of it? Same here. At least not until this morning when Reuters reported that it's a newly discovered planet that's twice the size of Earth and made "largely out of diamond."
55 Cancri e was discovered by a team made up of American and French researchers who found that the planet is incredibly dense (eight times greater than Earth), incredibly hot (surface temperatures can reach 3,900 degrees F), and orbits a Sun-like star so fast that a year lasts only 18 days.
Nikku Madhusudhan, a Yale researcher who worked on the study, told Reuters that due to the planet's high temperature, "the surface of this planet is likely covered in graphite and diamond rather than water and granite." To be more specific, the study shows that at least a third of 55 Cancri e is made of diamond.
Wait 'til Gucci Mane finds out about this.
[via Reuters]
