Скачать или смотреть Extreme Super-Earths Studied: The Diamond Planet A Stars Carbon-Rich Core

Imagine a Diamond Planet so close to its star that a year lasts less than a single Earth day.

Known as 55 Cancri e, this distant super-Earth has transformed from a faint wobble in starlight into one of the most provocative worlds ever studied, a place where carbon may rule instead of rock. Astronomers uncovered it in 2004, then slowly realized its host star carried an unusual carbon-rich signature, hinting that this planet formed under alien rules far from our own solar blueprint. Later models suggested that crushing pressure could turn carbon into vast layers of diamond, while follow-up observations revealed extreme heat, possible lava oceans, and an atmosphere that may be vaporized rock or stripped away entirely. Orbiting its star in just 18 hours, the planet is likely tidally locked, with a permanent day of molten fire and a night that could hide crystalline interiors we can only infer from light curves and spectra. Telescopes like Hubble, Spitzer, and now JWST continue to test whether this world is truly carbon-dominated or something even stranger, reminding us how indirect clues can still unveil radical planetary diversity. Beyond the headlines and imaginary price tags, 55 Cancri e matters because it forces science to rethink how planets form and how wildly different they can be from Earth.

If the universe can forge worlds of diamond and fire, how many other planetary surprises are still waiting to be found?