SPACE FINDS

DIAMOND PLANET

In 2012, astronomers were astonished to find a planet partly

made from diamond. Formally known as “55 Cancri e”, the

planet has a mass of about 7.8 Earths and is thought to

contain a large amount of carbon much of which may be

in the form of diamonds. As the planet is located “just”

40 light years away from Earth, it is visible

even to the naked eye.

GAMMA RAY BURSTS

Characterized as flashes of gamma rays associated with

extremely energetic explosions from distant galaxies,

the gamma ray bursts were first detected in 1967 by a

series of satellites designed to detect covert nuclear

weapons tests. Soon after the discovery, hundreds of

theoretical models were proposed to explain these bursts,

nevertheless it wasn’t until 1997 when this phenomenon

was better understood thanks to the usage of

optical spectroscopy.

FREEZING PLANET

Located in a binary star system 3,000 light-years from Earth,

the freezing planet was discovered by a technique called

gravitational microlensing. The uniqueness of the discovery

lies in the fact that binary systems were originally thought

not to contain planets. Formally known as WISE 0855−0714,

 the discovery of the freezing planet now suggests even

a binary system can be a planet hunting ground.

STAR INSIDE ANOTHER STAR

In 2014, astronomers discovered a fascinating new space

object-a hybrid star some 200,000 light years away.

Named Thorne-Żytkow object, it consists of a neutron star

that was swallowed by a much larger red supergiant. Although

the existence of such objects was predicted as early as in

1975, the exact process by which hybrid stars are

created remains unknown.

UNUSUAL MAGNETAR

While astronomers have been familiar with magnetars-dense

collapsed neutron stars possessing enormously powerful

magnetic fields-the 2013 discovery of a magnetar dubbed

SGR 1745-2900 boggled their minds. Apart from its unusually

close proximity to a super massive black hole, the magnetar was

hotter than expected and the amount of X-rays emitted by the star

was dropping slower than in other known magnetars.

ENERGETIC PARTICLES

Astronomers were shocked to find evidences of what appears

to be energetic particles produced by a giant black hole located

in the middle of the Milky Way. In 2014, NASA satellites revealed

that our solar system might be full of mysterious energetic

particles known as neutrinos. While we know Earth is permanently

bombarded by similar particles coming from the Sun, neutrinos

from beyond the solar system haven’t been known so far.

GREAT RED SPOT ON JUPITER

Discovered in the early 17^th century, the great red spot on Jupiter

has been baffling astronomers for centuries. These days,

we know it is a large persistent anticyclonic storm up to

three times bigger than our planet. Yet, even modern

astronomers cannot exactly explain why it has lasted

so long and what causes its reddish colour.

COLDEST WHITE DWARF EVER

In June 2014, astronomers identified what might be one of the

strangest objects in our galaxy – an incredibly cold, ancient

and faint white dwarf that has crystallized into a diamond the size

of Earth. White dwarfs are not uncommon in space but they

are usually so dim we hardly ever notice them. What makes the

discovery even more unique is the fact that this star is estimated

to be as old as the entire Milky Way (11 billion years).