---
title: "PSR J1719-1438b: The Star that Turned into a Diamond Planet"
description: "[caption id=\"attachment_6223\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"216\"] A diagram of a pulsar showing its rotation axis, magnetic axis, and magnetic field.[/caption] PSR J1719-1438 is probably one of the most fantastical cosmic objects that you'll ever encounter. First, 1438 is a neutron star. A neutron star is a stellar object that is amazingly massive and amazingly small. Although pulsars..."
date: "2013-09-22"
modified: "2013-09-22"
authors:
  - name: "Futurism"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/fqtq"
url: "https://futurism.com/psr-j1719-1438-the-star-that-turned-into-a-diamond-planet-2"
categories:
  - "From Quarks to Quasars"
---

# PSR J1719-1438b: The Star that Turned into a Diamond Planet

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/diamond_planet31.jpg>)

[![A diagram of a pulsar showing its rotation axis, magnetic axis, and magnetic field.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/pulsar.gif>)](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/pulsar.gif>)
*A [diagram](<http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l2/pulsars.html>) of a pulsar showing its rotation axis, magnetic axis, and magnetic field.*

PSR J1719-1438 is probably one of the most fantastical cosmic objects that you'll ever encounter. **First**, 1438 is a [neutron star](<http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/pulsars.html>). A neutron star is a stellar object that is amazingly massive and amazingly small. Although pulsars are at least 1.4 times the mass of our sun, they are generally only about 20km \[12mi\] across. Essentially, they are stars that are the size of small cities, and a large mass **+** a small size **=** extreme density. Since neutron stars are so dense, on Earth, one teaspoon of this stellar material would weigh about a billion tons.

**Second**, 1438 is a [pulsar](<http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l2/pulsars.html>). Simply put, pulsars are neutron stars that emit beams of radiation that sweep through Earth's line of sight. This occurs because neutron stars have intense magnetic fields (they are about a trillion times stronger than Earth's own field). However, the axis of the magnetic field is not aligned with the neutron star's rotational axis. As a result, the star wobbles, and the pulsar's beam sweep across our gaze at a regular interval, allowing us to determine just how fast the object is spinning. As it turns out, pulsars spin amazingly fast (most pulsars have rotational periods of mere seconds).

**Third**, 1438 is a [millisecond pulsar](<http://www.astro.cornell.edu/academics/courses/astro201/pulsar_ms.htm>). As noted, pulsars have an amazingly fast spin--but a millisecond pulsar makes an ordinary pulsar look like it's not even moving. The fastest ones pulse at a mind-boggling 1.6 milliseconds, meaning that the star is rotating 640 times each second. However, 1438 isn't quite that fast; it has a spin period of 5.4 ms (that's still about 10,000 rotations a minute.).

The **fourth** and (quite possibly) most impressive feature of 1438 is its companion: PSR J1719-1438b. 1438b is a planet that has a mass that is nearly the same as Jupiter's, but it is only 40% the size of the planet. How did it get to be so small and so massive? Scientists believe that 1438b is the remnant of a star whose outer layers were siphoned off by the more massive pulsar. Although the outer-layers of the planet were stripped away by the pulsar, they left behind a remnant that is composed primarily of carbon. Ultimately, this means that 1438b is an alien planet that is, for all intents and purposes, a diamond... a diamond that is about 5 times larger than the Earth. Oddly enough, this also means that this planet is larger than its sun. With a diameter of about 37,300 miles (60,000 km), 1438b is [3,000 times larger than the millisecond pulsar it orbits](<http://www.space.com/12731-diamond-alien-planet-discovered-neutron-star.html>). What's more, the planet orbits the pulsar at a very close distance. So close, in fact, that the entire system would fit within the diameter of our sun.

[![Planet formation graphic courtesy of feelguide](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/diamond_planet2-1024x296.jpg>)](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/diamond_planet2.jpg>)
*Planet formation graphic courtesy of [feelguide](<http://www.feelguide.com/>)*

To recap: 1438b was once a Star. 1438 transformed it into a planet. During this process, 1438 also transformed 1438b into a massive diamond. I'm not sure about you, but I think that's a pretty impressive accomplishment.