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See a Diamond Planet, an Exploding Star and a Black Hole Up Close in a New Immersive Virtual Reality Experience
Key takeaways
- Carlyn Kranking | Associate Web Editor, Science
- “We know it’s hot enough and dense enough that diamonds could form on the surface,” says Randall Smith, associate director for science at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO).
- Informed by this science, people can now see what it might look like to stand on the planet Janssen in a new virtual reality (VR) experience called Smithsonian Starstruck.
Carlyn Kranking | Associate Web Editor, Science
Add as preferred source The Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula is a region where stars are born, seen in Smithsonian Starstruck. NASA, ESA, CSA, STSc I; Image Processing: Joseph De Pasquale (STSc I), Anton Koekemoer (STSc I), Alyssa Pagan (STSc I) On the exoplanet Janssen, heat from its host star and immense pressure have made the world something of a hellscape, with the potential for lava flowing across its surface. But amid the fiery chaos, astronomers think there may be some spots of glimmering beauty: diamonds.
“We know it’s hot enough and dense enough that diamonds could form on the surface,” says Randall Smith, associate director for science at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO). And research suggests that solid diamond might even make up the planet’s core.