Astronomers Spy 10 Billion Trillion Trillion Carat Diamond
 

If anyone's ever promised you the sun, the moon and the stars, tell 'em you'll settle for BPM 37093.

The heart of that burned-out star with the no-nonsense name is a sparkling diamond that weighs a staggering 10 billion trillion trillion carats. That's one followed by 34 zeros.

The hunk of celestial bling is an estimated 2,500 miles across, said Travis Metcalfe, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

"You would need a jeweler's loupe the size of the sun to grade this diamond," said Metcalfe, who led the team that discovered the gem.

The diamond is a massive chunk of crystallized carbon that lies about 300 trillion miles from Earth, in the constellation Centaurus.

The galaxy's largest diamond is formally known as a white dwarf, or the hot core of a dead sun.

Astronomers have suspected for decades that white dwarfs crystallized, but only recently were able to verify the hypothesis.

A paper detailing the discovery has been submitted to The Astrophysical Journal Letters for publication.
freak:

That's interesting.

For comparison's sake, the largest diamond ever discovered on Earth weighed 3,100 carats. It was ultimately cut to make the 530-carat Star of Africa, which is part of the Crown Jewels of England.

I'd buy that for a Dollar!

Ill take it and sell it on ebay. But the shipping and handling would be priceless.

now we know why bush is boosting nasa's budget .

I'm the biggest pimp in the world.

LORD OF THE BLING

...I wonder if these types of discoverys will effect the value of diamonds on the markets ? oOo:

[quote="General Cobra":c45bb]That's interesting.

For comparison's sake, the largest diamond ever discovered on Earth weighed 3,100 carats. It was ultimately cut to make the 530-carat Star of Africa, which is part of the Crown Jewels of England.[/quote:c45bb]

Just goes to show that Her Majesty is Queen of the Bling! rock: cool:

[img]http://www.sovereignty.org.uk/features/articles/thequeen.jpg[/img]

that's cool man.

How about some linkage to where you found that??

Kinda reminds me of futurama where the martions had that one "bead" that they traded the surface of their planet for! rock:

[quote="Short Hand":b24e8]...I wonder if these types of discoverys will effect the value of diamonds on the markets ? oOo:[/quote:b24e8]

Thats actually a good question. Until we are able to mine it, it won't make a difference. And since i't out of our solar system, I doubt well beable to mine it anytime soon. Its 300 trillion miles or 50 light years away, so don't hold your breath.

[quote="Neo Nazi Hitler":7a4cb]that's cool man.

How about some linkage to where you found that??

Kinda reminds me of futurama where the martions had that one "bead" that they traded the surface of their planet for! rock:[/quote:7a4cb]

[url="http://www.local6.com/news/2847577/detail.html"]http://www.local6.com/news/2847577/detail.html[/url]

[quote="Sergeant_Scrotum":24ea6]now we know why bush is boosting nasa's budget .[/quote:24ea6]

ROFL

Good one.

Look for it on Kobe Bryant's wife's finger as soon as it is harvested

Bad one. annoy: