TRUE. BPM 37093, a.k.a. Lucy, is the 886th variable star in the constellation Centaurus and is a diamond of some 10 billion trillion trillion carats.
To put that in perspective the biggest diamond found on earth, the Cullinan diamond, was 3106 carats.
Lucy is a white dwarf star just 2,500 miles in diameter and was named after the Beatles song Lucy in The Sky With Diamonds. What's more, she's only a tantalizing 50 light years away, so the next stop once we've finished with the asteroid belt.
However, no matter how brightly Lucy sparkles her tragedy is that she is quite dead. The surface is no doubt very ghostly with echo-y chime music playing. A white dwarf is the remnant of a star that has burnt through all its nuclear fuel and imploded.
If you don't believe me stick around. In 5 billion years time the same thing will happen to our own sun, then after a further 2 billion years or so of residual glow it will cool and become a diamond just like Lucy.
GET IT RIGHT? Give yourself a point for a correct answer and 2 points for a retweet or share. Look out for a new fact tomorrow.
Brought to you by Infinity Drake - Book #1 The Sons of Scarlatti out in paperback now!
Share This Article
