Is it true that astronomers discovered a planet made of sugar and another made from diamond? Or was it a star?
2006-10-03 07:58:57 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
I'M BEING SERIOUS HERE!!!!!
2006-10-03 08:06:10 · update #1
All I can remember reading was that the diamond planet/star was so dense that one teaspoon full weighed more than a battleship, and that the sugar planet/star was glucose based.
2006-10-03 08:09:22 · update #2
the diamond planet seems to be a reference to "carbon planets". these are planets which are hypothetically composed primarily of carbon rather than silicon.
huh...no one else has given this answer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_planet
http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=SkyTonight.com+-+News+from+SkyTonight+-+A+Flurry+of+Exoplanet+Discoveries&expire=&urlID=19700364&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fskytonight.com%2Fnews%2F3310046.html%3FshowAll%3Dy%26c%3Dy&partnerID=107891
http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=SkyTonight.com+-+News+from+SkyTonight+-+The+Birth+of+Carbon+Planets%3F&expire=&urlID=19491995&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fskytonight.com%2Fnews%2F3422496.html%3FshowAll%3Dy%26c%3Dy&partnerID=107891
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/astro-ph/pdf/0504/0504214.pdf
the sugar is an eight-atom molecule called glycoaldehyde. astronomers found it in an interstellar cloud of gas and dust called sagittarius B2. glycoaldehyde does not have a ring of carbon atoms however.
http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2004/coldsugar/
2006-10-03 11:31:17 · answer #1 · answered by warm soapy water 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Not a planet, but they did find a type of sugar molecule in a nebula, amongst lots of other stuff. It's a pretty neat discovery, though, it's one more complex molecule that can lead to life given the right environment (on a warm, earth-like planet somewhere).
Stars like our Sun fuse hydrogen into helium. When the hydrogen is used up, it will fuse helium into carbon. When our Sun dies, it will shed its outer layers, leaving the core of carbon exposed - we call this a white dwarf. Since white dwarfs are so dense, some think the carbon might be squeezed into a diamond configuration. The material of a white dwarf is unbelievably dense - imagine something the mass of the Sun, but the size of Earth!
2006-10-03 08:22:58 · answer #2 · answered by kris 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Sugar is a complex form of hydrocarbon that is the result of plant biological functions. I really don't see how it could form out of the raw components, certainly not in vast quantities to form a planet. As for diamond, it is nothing more than compressed carbon. That would be more likely, however the planet would have to have been subjected to intense heat and pressure.
2006-10-03 08:09:19 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is true that some stars form large amounts of carbon as they get older. Then the star will finally collapse into a white dwarf star and the carbon is pushed together to form diamond.
2006-10-03 09:17:42 · answer #4 · answered by Neil T 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Sounds like something the Magratheans from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy would do. I only heard of them doing solid gold planets, not diamond ones.
2006-10-03 08:09:06 · answer #5 · answered by wayfaroutthere 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It wasn't astronomers that discovered the sugar planet, it was a space explorer called Princess Cosma, and she definitely had a diamond.
2006-10-03 08:13:06 · answer #6 · answered by Sangmo 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I'm pretty sure I would have heard about that. They have discovered organic molecules like amino acids, alcohols and possibly sugars in far off stars. It is also thought that old stars that are fusing carbon make diamonds when they go supernova.
2006-10-03 08:06:12 · answer #7 · answered by Pseudo Obscure 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I haven't heard of it. It's theoretically possible though that a planet could be made entirely of sugar or of diamond. Unlikely in the extreme but possible.
Maybe there are aliens out there with a sense of humor who like to contsruct BIG jokes.
"Hey look, a planet made of sugar!" says JIHIBHI.
"Sweet!" replies HihiEDTCD.
2006-10-03 08:06:55 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Diamonds? Sugar? All you need now is a planet made of chocolate, and another made of shoes and you have the perfect girlie universe
2006-10-03 08:14:44 · answer #9 · answered by Tarzan 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
No of course not I am learning abou space/stars in my science class and I have never heard of such a thing this website might help you out with you're question.......bbc.co.uk my science teacher showed us an animation on this site it might help I saw stars on the front page. Hope I helped!
2006-10-03 09:34:11 · answer #10 · answered by Kally 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋