Fake Diamonds Sparkle in Outer Space

Scientists have already confirmed that real diamond stars are floating around in outer space, but now it turns out that fake diamond materials are also out there in the universe. A team of scientists from the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland have discovered a star that is enveloped by clouds of sparkling, glowing zirconium- the material that fake diamonds are created from. 

The research team of scientists, lead by graduate student Naslim Neelanamkodan and her supervisor Dr. Simon Jeffrey, were using a massive telescope in the Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales to examine the LS IV-14 116 which lies over 2,000 light years away, and determine the elements in its atmosphere. 

After studying the results from their spectroscope which they attached to the telescope, the researchers discovered the presence of a form of zirconium that exists only at temperatures above 20,000 degrees Celsius (36,000 degrees Fahrenheit). 

This form of zirconium, which had never been found in an astronomical spectrum, had suddenly been found in massive quantities. In fact, this star is glowing with the largest amount of zirconium ever seen: at 4 billion tones, the levels show about 10,000 times more zirconium than our sun.

The presence of this faux diamond material came as a gigantic shock to the entire team. “The huge excess of zirconium was a complete surprise. We had no reason to think this star was more peculiar than any other faint blue star discovered so far,” said Naslim. 

After taking a closer look, researchers determined that high concentrations of other elements such as strontium, germanium and yttrium were also present.  The team believes that  these elements along with the zirconium, are most likely present in the cloud layers in the atmosphere of LS IV-14 166 and that the star may in fact have many different thin cloud layers. 

Evidence also suggests that the glittering “fake diamond star” is shrinking; changing from a bright cool giant to a faint hot subdwarf.  Research shows that as the star shrinks, various elements fall towards the center of the star while others are released into the atmosphere where they become easily visible. 

So while diamonds may be the hardest thing on earth, it turns out that fake diamonds may actually be the hardest mystery for scientists to solve in outer space.