Every woman dreams of receiving a huge, sparkling and priceless diamond. Now scientists have discovered the largest diamond in the universe.
But it's well beyond the reach of the most lovestruck men - 50 light years to be precise. Space scientists revealed that they had discovered a ten billion trillion trillion carat gem. Measuring 2,500 miles across and weighing five million trillion trillion pounds, the rock was found on Valentine's Day buried in the core of a white dwarf star in the constellation Centaurus.
"It's the mother of all diamonds," said Travis Metcalfe, who led the team of researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in America.
"You would need a jeweller's loupe the size of the Sun to grade this diamond." Named Lucy, after the Beatles' song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, the rock has sent a ripple of excitement through the scientific world.
The largest diamond found on earth was the 3,106-carat Cullinan. It was cut into nine major stones, including the 530-carat Star of Africa, now a part of the Crown Jewels. Diamonds were first discovered in India more than 2,800 years ago. The Ancient Romans believed that the stones were splinters of stars that had tumbled to earth.
In Ancient Egypt, diamonds were symbols of eternity and were used in funeral rites. In the Middle Ages, men wore them to symbolise their courage and virility. The tradition of giving them as love tokens dates from 1477, when Archduke Maximilian of Austria gave a diamond ring to Mary of Burgundy.
每個女人都夢想著收到一顆閃閃發(fā)光的、價值連城的大鉆石?，F(xiàn)在科學(xué)家們發(fā)現(xiàn)了宇宙中的鉆石。
但是這顆鉆石是絕大多數(shù)熱戀中的男人怎么也夠不著的——精確的說距離有50光年。宇宙科學(xué)家們透露他們發(fā)現(xiàn)了一塊重達(dá)10的46次方克拉的寶石。這塊石頭直徑達(dá)2500英里，重5×10的42次方磅，藏在人馬座中一顆白矮星的中心，是在情人節(jié)那天被發(fā)現(xiàn)的。
“這是鉆石之母，”美國哈佛史密桑尼安天文物理中心研究組組長特拉維斯·梅特卡夫說。
“要評價這顆鉆石的等級，需要使用像太陽那么大的珠寶商專用放大鏡?！边@枚鉆石名為Lucy，是根據(jù)甲克蟲樂隊的歌曲《Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds》而命名的，這塊大石頭令科學(xué)界興奮不已。
地球上發(fā)現(xiàn)的鉆石是重3106克拉的克利蘭鉆石。它被分割成9塊大鉆石，其中包括530克拉的“非洲之星”，現(xiàn)在是皇冠珠寶中的一部分。2800多年前，鉆石首先在印度被發(fā)現(xiàn)。古代羅馬人相信這種石頭是掉到地球上的星星的碎片。
在古埃及，鉆石是永恒的標(biāo)志，被用于葬禮儀式。中世紀(jì)，男人們佩戴鉆石，作為勇敢和剛強的象征。1477年，奧地利大公馬克西米利安把一枚鉆石戒指送給了瑪利公主，從此贈送鉆石作為愛情的象征這個傳統(tǒng)便流傳下來。
But it's well beyond the reach of the most lovestruck men - 50 light years to be precise. Space scientists revealed that they had discovered a ten billion trillion trillion carat gem. Measuring 2,500 miles across and weighing five million trillion trillion pounds, the rock was found on Valentine's Day buried in the core of a white dwarf star in the constellation Centaurus.
"It's the mother of all diamonds," said Travis Metcalfe, who led the team of researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in America.
"You would need a jeweller's loupe the size of the Sun to grade this diamond." Named Lucy, after the Beatles' song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, the rock has sent a ripple of excitement through the scientific world.
The largest diamond found on earth was the 3,106-carat Cullinan. It was cut into nine major stones, including the 530-carat Star of Africa, now a part of the Crown Jewels. Diamonds were first discovered in India more than 2,800 years ago. The Ancient Romans believed that the stones were splinters of stars that had tumbled to earth.
In Ancient Egypt, diamonds were symbols of eternity and were used in funeral rites. In the Middle Ages, men wore them to symbolise their courage and virility. The tradition of giving them as love tokens dates from 1477, when Archduke Maximilian of Austria gave a diamond ring to Mary of Burgundy.
每個女人都夢想著收到一顆閃閃發(fā)光的、價值連城的大鉆石?，F(xiàn)在科學(xué)家們發(fā)現(xiàn)了宇宙中的鉆石。
但是這顆鉆石是絕大多數(shù)熱戀中的男人怎么也夠不著的——精確的說距離有50光年。宇宙科學(xué)家們透露他們發(fā)現(xiàn)了一塊重達(dá)10的46次方克拉的寶石。這塊石頭直徑達(dá)2500英里，重5×10的42次方磅，藏在人馬座中一顆白矮星的中心，是在情人節(jié)那天被發(fā)現(xiàn)的。
“這是鉆石之母，”美國哈佛史密桑尼安天文物理中心研究組組長特拉維斯·梅特卡夫說。
“要評價這顆鉆石的等級，需要使用像太陽那么大的珠寶商專用放大鏡?！边@枚鉆石名為Lucy，是根據(jù)甲克蟲樂隊的歌曲《Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds》而命名的，這塊大石頭令科學(xué)界興奮不已。
地球上發(fā)現(xiàn)的鉆石是重3106克拉的克利蘭鉆石。它被分割成9塊大鉆石，其中包括530克拉的“非洲之星”，現(xiàn)在是皇冠珠寶中的一部分。2800多年前，鉆石首先在印度被發(fā)現(xiàn)。古代羅馬人相信這種石頭是掉到地球上的星星的碎片。
在古埃及，鉆石是永恒的標(biāo)志，被用于葬禮儀式。中世紀(jì)，男人們佩戴鉆石，作為勇敢和剛強的象征。1477年，奧地利大公馬克西米利安把一枚鉆石戒指送給了瑪利公主，從此贈送鉆石作為愛情的象征這個傳統(tǒng)便流傳下來。