A Huge Diamond in Space?

Space is a large place that we know very little about. Space is so large that it is hard to really know what is completely out there. What if there was a large diamond out in space that is so large that we would not know what to do with? This is something that could be very possible. Well, scientists have discovered that this is not only possible, but it actually exists out there. Let’s talk more about this. How large is this diamond? Where can it be found? Can we get to it and bring it back? What does this mean to us?

This Massive Diamond

There is a white dwarf star in the constellation of Centaurus. For those of you who know your constellations, this is next to the Southern Cross. Within that white dwarf there is a core that made up 3000 kilometers wide of crystallized carbon. When carbon crystallizes, then we know it becomes a diamond. It actually weighs 10 billion trillion trillion carats. Yes, you read right, billion trillion trillion! Compare that to the biggest jewel on Earth, which is 530 carats. If you still can’t understand how large that is then write down a one on a sheet of paper and then follow it with 34 zeroes.

What Does This Mean?

Well, obviously because of it’s size, there is absolutely no way that we can get to it, let alone bring it back. This diamond makes up over half of the mass of the dwarf star. It is also hidden away between a layer of hydrogen and helium gas. For those of you who are thinking about stealing this diamond, well, we are sorry that you will not be able to! The impact of discovering this huge diamond goes way beyond the question of whether or not we can get to it.

More Space Diamonds?

For a few decades now scientists have been toying around with the idea that cool white dwarfs have a diamond core. Discovering this diamond now confirms this theory. This is a large thing to discover because it could explain how diamonds have made it through space and even onto Earth. The more steps we can learn in this process the more we will be able to discover. It can also help us learn more about these white dwarfs. The possibilities are endless.