SPACE ODDITIES

Take a tour of the weirdest spots in the universe, where the 'normal' rules don't apply. Places that squeeze time, blow bubbles and even rain glass... sideways

- COLIN STUART

THE DIAMOND PLANET

PLANET 55 CANCRI E

Forty-one light years away lies a star known as either 55 Cancri, or Copernicus. Ripping around it at a roaring pace is the planet 55 Cancri e, also called Janssen. The planet takes a little over 17 hours to complete an orbit.

At eight times the mass of Earth, 55 Cancri e is a scorched superEarth. The temperature climbs as high as 2,400°C - enough to melt almost every type of metal.

Back in 2010, a study concluded that the carbon-to-oxygen ratio of the planet's host star was unusually high. If that ratio also exists on 55 Cancri e, then, combined with the planet's vital statistics, models suggest that the carbon would mostly exist in diamond form. It would be a blazingly hot planet that scintillates and sparkles.

The situation may be more nuanced, however. A follow-up study found a carbon-to-oxygen ratio that was still higher than the sun's, but less than previously believed. That leaves the diamond idea on a more unsure footing.

That said, planets don't have to exactly match the carbon-oxygen ratio of their host stars. If the carbon on 55 Cancri e was topped up from some other source, it could still be the most precious planet in the known universe.

THE MIS-SHAPEN STAR

VEGA

Vega is one of the most important stars in the sky. It's so bright that ega is one of the most important the brightness of other stars is measured against it. Astronomers measure a star's brightness on a backwards scale (the lower the value, the higher the brightness), known as apparent magnitude. Vega is the reference point of that scale, with a magnitude of zero.