Astronomers discover possible second-generation planet
Astronomers have identified evidence of a potential second-generation planet orbiting a white dwarf star 270 light-years away. The discovery suggests that planets can form from the debris of a dying star rather than just during a star's initial birth.
Why it matters
This finding challenges existing models of planetary formation and expands our understanding of how solar systems evolve after a star dies.
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Make New York Post a Preferred Source Scientists discovered first-of-its-kind evidence of a possible second-generation planet around a white dwarf star some 270 light years away from Earth.
Astronomers found chemical signatures that indicated that gases cast off from the dead star HS 0209+0832 had coalesced into an alien world roughly the size of Jupiter, according to a study published last week in Nature Astronomy .
A team of UK-based scientists took a second look at data garnered from NASA’s Hubble Telescope in 1999 and noted about 100 unidentified chemical features around the dense dead star, which is located in the Milky Way and can be seen in the constellation Cetus.
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