[meteorite-list] Diamond Planets: Rich Possibilities for Other Worlds

From: David Freeman <dfreeman_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Feb 8 14:03:09 2005
Message-ID: <42090CF0.2050803_at_fascination.com>

Dear Ron, List;

I am not in amazement but yet I am.

I have really been amazed at how much the kimberlite I have seen
imitates the carbonaceous chondrites in pictures and chemistry. My
olivine's in the kimberlite have been carbonized even. For those of you
that have a specimen, isn't this a revelation! The more we go forward,
the more things come full circle.
As a side note, I predict that in 10 years Wyoming may be mining more
diamonds than the Canadian Yukon, which last year out produced South
African diamond mines.

As you know, I market kimberlite on ebay.
Best,
Dave F.
ebay ID mjwy

Ron Baalke wrote:

>
>http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/diamond_planets_050208.html
>
>Diamond Planets: Rich Possibilities for Other Worlds
>By Robert Roy Britt
>space.com
>08 February 2005
>
>The solid planets in our solar system are made mostly of silicates.
>Rock, basically. A new study shows that planets around some other stars
>might be made mostly of carbon instead. Deep inside such worlds, where
>pressures are intense, the carbon would make layers of diamonds that
>could be miles thick.
>
>The rich-sounding worlds are modeled after a certain type of space rock,
>known as the carbonaceous chondrite, which are thought to be broken bits
>of asteroids. Many of them have been collected on Earth.
>
>"These meteorites contain large quantities of carbon compounds such as
>carbides, organics, and graphite, and even the occasional tiny diamond,"
>Marc Kuchner of Princeton University said in a teleconference with
>reporters Monday evening from an extrasolar planet conference in Aspen.
>
>The idea builds on other reasonable theories.
>
>The planets in our solar system formed from a disk of gas and dust left
>behind from the Sun's formation. In regions where there was extra carbon
>or a lack of oxygen, carbon compounds like graphite and carbides would
>condense out of the mix, instead of stone.
>
>Carbides are a ceramic used to line the cylinders of engines. They can
>take the heat of being very close to a star.
>
>Kuchner and his colleague, Sara Seager of the Carnegie Institute of
>Washington, figure that concept fits nicely with discoveries of planets
>around other stars, including some that are surprisingly close to their
>host stars -- much closer than Mercury is to the Sun. Carbon planets
>could survive at high temperatures near a star, they say.
>
>Another set of candidates for diamond-laden planets are the dark worlds
>orbiting a dead, fast-spinning star known as PSR 1257+12. These planets
>-- three of them are roughly Earth-sized -- might have been formed by
>the destruction of a carbon-rich star, Kuchner said.
>
>Carbon planets might also be common near the center of the galaxy, where
>stars are known to contain more carbon than out here on the spiral arms
>where our solar system resides, some 26,000 light-years from the
>galactic middle.
>
>"There's no reason to think that extrasolar planets will be just like
>the planets in the solar system." Kuchner said. "The possibilities are
>startling."
>
>Carbon planets might have smoggy atmospheres laden with carbon dioxide,
>and a surface covered with tar-like precipitation. "A little bit like
>Los Angeles," Kuchner said.
>
>Future telescopes might identify some of these offbeat orbs by noting
>these characteristics and a lack of water.
>
>One day, diamonds could lose their allure by sheer overstocking. The
>entire galaxy is growing richer in carbon as generation after generation
>of stars produce heavier elements. In the future, Kuchner and Seager
>contend, all planets might form as carbon worlds.
>
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Received on Tue 08 Feb 2005 02:03:12 PM PST