Astronomers Announce Discovery Of A Planet Made Of Diamond

                       
                        The planet made of Diamond (a Reuters:NASA picture)

A rocky planet, called 55 Cancri e, orbits a sun-like star in the constellation of Cancer has been discovered by Astronomers. The US-Franco Research team that discovered the planet said it is moving so fast that a year there lasts a mere 18 hours.  "The surface of this planet is likely covered in graphite and diamond rather than water and granite," said Yale researcher Nikku Madhusudhan, whose findings are due to be published in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters. The Reuters based report further stated that diamond planets
 have been spotted before but this is the first time one has been seen orbiting a sun-like star and studied in such detail. The report further states that the planet is about 40 light years from Earth while the researchers estimates that at least one-third of the planet's mass, the equivalent of about three Earth masses, could be diamond.