Non-gas giant has 73 times Earth’s mass, bewildering its discoverers

For those curious, 9.7 g&#x2F;cm^3 would roughly match the densities of Thulium (9.321), Bismuth (9.807), Moscovium (&gt;9.807), Lutetium (9.84), or Lawrencium (&gt;9.84). Several of those are short-lived radioactive elements, however.<p>Going up the scale slightly are Actinium (10.07), Molybdenum (10.22), and Silver (10.501).<p>My suspicion is that there&#x27;s possibly a core of Lead (11.342) or Thorium (11.72) (both fairly abundant on Earth, and stable), though Mercury (13.5336) and Tungsten (19.25) give some interesting possibilities, surrounded by a crust (or ocean) of less-dense materials.<p>Oh, and surface temperature is ~1,200°C.<p>Quite a conundrum.<p>Elements listed by density (at standard temperature &amp; pressure: 100 kPa &amp; 0°C): &lt;<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.thoughtco.com&#x2F;elements-listed-by-density-606528" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.thoughtco.com&#x2F;elements-listed-by-density-606528</a>&gt;

From the article:<p>&gt; There&#x27;s nothing physically impossible about either of those potential formation mechanisms, but both require a series of unlikely events. The Universe is big, and those things probably happen somewhere…<p>The universe has so many galaxies, with so many stars, with so many planets, that the odds practically demand these outlier results. We should stop being surprised at them.<p>Astronomers and astrophysicists need a new law of discovery, something like this: “Every possible astrophysical body already exists somewhere in the universe.”