‘Phoenix planet’ may have formed from a dead star’s ashes - CNN

In a cosmic first, scientists say they have detected a planet that may have formed from the burned remains of its dead host star. The planet is likely a gas giant orbiting a white dwarf called HS 0209+0832 located about 270 light-years from Earth, according to the authors of a study published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy. After analyzing observations from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and other instruments, the team found chemical evidence that suggests the planet could have condensed from material expelled by the star as it fizzled out of energy and collapsed into a white dwarf. When a sunlike star dies, it first rapidly expands into a red giant and then sheds its outer layers, leaving behind a much smaller but dense, hot core — known as a white dwarf.