The universe contains many wonders, but scientists have discovered something that defies the imagination: a planet made of diamonds.

The carbon-based planet is denser than any previously discovered. A diamond forms when carbon is put under immense pressure, so scientists speculate that the conditions are right for much of the planet to be crystalline — in other words, a giant celestial diamond.

‘The evolutionary history and amazing density of the planet all suggest it is comprised of carbon — i.e. a massive diamond orbiting a neutron star,’ Matthew Bailes of Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne told Reuters.

Located about 4,000 light years away in the constellation Serpens, the planet is in a tight orbit around a type of tiny dead neutron star known as a pulsar, completing its revolution around the pulsar every two hours and 10 minutes. Pulsars regularly emit bursts of radiation , which allowed scientists to detect this one, called PSR J1719-1438. They realized that the radiation beams were being modulated by a small planet, which then led them to the ‘diamond planet.’

The scientists’ measurements indicate that the planet has slightly more mass than Jupiter, but is 20 times as dense. It is also lacking in lighter elements like […]