Astronomers Find a Planet Denser Than Lead (And The Size of Jupiter)

Originally posted by 4nsicphd

Originally posted by endisnighe


Can oxygen or even helium be more dense than lead?

Yup, just collapse it so that the electrons and protons are converted to neutrons after it supernovas and all that is left is a collection of 2 down quarks and an up quark, each with a mass of 300 MeV. Makes lead look like a feather. One teaspoon full of this neutron soup, if brought to earth would weigh a billion tons

I couldn't imagine how far down that teaspoon soup would go if it were dropped on Earth!

So what is this planet actually composed of?

To compress hydrogen to that density wouldn't it cause fusion, at least at the core, and become a star?

Could it be pure iron plus extreme gravity to equal average density above lead? Is this possible?

reply to post by Mr Mask


I agree...the thread is great.