Astronomers found a planet formed from the remains of a dead star

According to researchers, the gas giant is comparable in size to Jupiter and makes a complete revolution around the star in approximately 4.4 Earth days. The star system itself is located approximately 790 light-years from Earth. The fluctuations in brightness and periodicity of the object's orbit were recorded using the NASA TESS space telescope.

The key evidence for the scenario of repeated planet formation was the analysis of the atmosphere of the white dwarf. It revealed anomalously high concentrations of heavy elements - zinc, copper, and niobium. The content of some of them is approximately a thousand times higher than the solar indicators. These elements are formed as a result of nuclear reactions at the late stages of a star's life, before the ejection of the outer shells.

Currently, the white dwarf is gradually pulling in and absorbing the planet's substance, which is undergoing intense radiation. Astronomers suggest that the HS 0209+0832 system could previously have been a binary system: the gravity of the second star would have allowed the ejected substance to be retained and a disk to be formed for the birth of a new world.