Hubble data suggests a planet formed after its star died

Astronomers analyzing archived observations from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have discovered evidence of a planet that may have formed after its host star died. According to a study published on October 5 in Nature Astronomy and reported by ScienceDaily, researchers detected unusually high levels of the element niobium surrounding the white dwarf star HS 0209+0832. [1]

ScienceDaily reported that the elevated niobium signature suggests material expelled during the star's death may have assembled into a second-generation gas giant. Data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite also hints at a Jupiter-sized planet orbiting the white dwarf at a distance of just 3.7 million miles. [1]

The uncrewed Hubble Space Telescope was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 as one of NASA's Great Observatories. Named after astronomer Edwin Hubble, the spacecraft is controlled by the Goddard Space Flight Center, while the Space Telescope Science Institute selects its observation targets and processes science data. [6][7]