scientists from the harvard-smithsonian institute in cambridge have gathered evidence of a moon-sized crystal at the heart of a dying white dwarf star. their observations of the pulsations of the stars brightness led them to conclude that the core of the star was solidifying under the intense pressure of the cooling star. with this new data, the scientists hope to better understand and estimate the age of our galaxy. while this is all fine and dandy…did you read that line about the crystal being the size of the moon??? shit, that is some massive rock hotness. the scientists also noted that the crystal, while likened to a diamond, is “unlike any known on earth.”
“The pressure inside the white dwarf is a million million times the pressure that produces diamonds. This pressure strips electrons from the atoms, leaving the nuclei to form a crystal lattice surrounded by a sea of electrons.“
sweetness. imagine what the street value of a moon-sized crystal diamond millions of millions times more dense than a normal diamond would be. one can only wonder what other ridiculously coo things we could find out there, if only we had the starship enterprise…
> bigass diamond inside core of star (via new scientist)
