Astronomers have discovered a star transforming into a giant diamond

Astronomers have discovered HD 190412 C, a white dwarf, that's located 104 light-years away from Earth. The star is in the initial stage of crystallization, which means that it's transforming into a giant space diamond. According to Space, HD 190412 C is primarily composed of metallic oxygen. White dwarfs are the remaining stars of main sequence stars like our own Sun, and they form when celestial objects expel their outer layers. The core can transform into a diamond, and as a result, the star loses a lot of brightness.

This process takes trillions of years, and since the age of the Universe is only 13.8 billion years, diamond stars have not yet formed, but some have already started transforming. HD 190412 C is considered to be one such object.

The star is about 4.2 billion years old, its temperature is 6,300 ℃, and its mass is 0.817 times that of the Sun.