similar fashion. However, pulsar planets would be unlikely to harbor life as we know it, due to the high amounts of ionizing radiation and low amounts of visible light emitted by pulsars. In 2011, a planet that is theorized to be the remaining core of a star that orbited a pulsar was announced. It orbits millisecond pulsar PSR J1719−1438, and represents a path to planetary status by evaporation of a star. The planet is estimated to have a density of at least 23 times that of water, a diameter of 55,000 km, a mass near that of Jupiter's, and a 2-hour, 10-minute orbital period at 600,000 km. It is thought to be the diamond crystal core remaining from the evaporated white dwarf, with an estimated weight of . Formation There are three types of pulsar planets known so far. The PSR B1257+12 planets were formed out of the debris of a merged companion star that used to orbit the pulsar when it was a white dwarf. In PSR J1719-1438, the planet most likely is the companion, or what's left of it after being almost entirely blasted away by the extreme irradiation from the nearby pulsar. PSR B1620–26 b is most likely a captured planet. List of pulsar planets Confirmed planets Candidate planets Protoplanetary disks (fallback disks) Disproven planets See also Habitability of neutron star systems Lists of exoplanets List of stars with proplyds Exoplanet Dale Frail Andrew Lyne Aleksander Wolszczan References Types of planet Pulsars