NASA's Spitzer Discloses First Carbon-Rich Planet

Astronomers have exposed that a huge, searing-hot planet orbiting another star is loaded with an unusual amount of carbon. The planet, a gas giant named WASP-12b, is the first carbon-rich world ever observed. The discovery was made using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, along with previously published ground-based observations.

"This planet discloses the astonishing diversity of worlds out there," said Nikku Madhusudhan of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, and lead author of a report in the Dec. 9 issue of the journal Nature. "Carbon-rich planets would be exotic in every way formation, interiors and atmospheres.

" It's possible that WASP-12b might harbor graphite, diamond, or even a more foreign form of carbon in its interior, beneath its gaseous layers. Astronomers don't presently have the technology to view the cores of exoplanets, or planets orbiting stars beyond our sun, but their theories hint at these intriguing possibilities. The research also ropes theories that carbon-rich rocky planets much less massive than WASP-12b could exist around other stars. Our Earth has rocks like quartz and feldspar, which are made of silicon and oxygen plus other elements. A carbon-rich rocky planet could be a very different place.