Astronomers have found evidence of a rare “second-generation” planet that appears to have formed from material expelled by a dying star, rather than from the star’s original planetary disk. 

The planet appears to orbit the white dwarf HS 0209+0832, about 790 light-years away, and scientists detected unusually high levels of heavy elements including niobium in the star’s atmosphere. 

Observations from NASA’s TESS suggest the object is a Jupiter-sized gas giant orbiting the white dwarf roughly once every 4.4 days and extremely close to it. 

Researchers believe material shed when the original star expanded into a red giant formed a new disk from which the planet emerged, although the object remains a planet candidate rather than a fully confirmed planet, Space.com has reported.

The discovery could change scientists’ understanding of how planetary systems evolve after their stars die and raises the possibility that our own solar system could eventually produce a second-generation planet after the Sun becomes a white dwarf.