GREEN BANK, W.Va., June 24 (UPI) -- A newly observed white dwarf star may be the coldest ever discovered. The dead star is so cold, in fact, astronomers believe its carbon has crystalized, making it the largest diamond ever found -- about the same size as Earth.
Adding to its litany of superlatives, the diamond of a star is also one of the faintest ever discovered. It may sparkle up close, but it's invisible to humans. The only reason it was spotted is because it has a much more conspicuous orbital companion -- a pulsar formed from a supernova that emitted great streams of radio waves out into the cosmos.