Imagine climbing diamond mountains, or hiking around the graphite shores of a lake of tar. Sound a little sci-fi? Well a new discovery suggests planets like that might be out there–planets littered with carbon minerals, instead of the oxygen-rich silicates, like quartz, that cover the Earth. Because astronomers have found the first carbon-rich exoplanet, with more carbon than oxygen in its atmosphere–instead of the 1 to 2 carbon to oxygen ratio found in our solar system. [More]













Scientific American - Space