Astronomers Detect Potential ‘Second Generation’ Planet Around Dying Stellar White Dwarf

What happened

Astronomers Detect Potential ‘Second Generation’ Planet Around Dying Stellar White Dwarf By Bruce Dorminey - October 11, 2026 02:49 AM UTC | Exoplanets Astronomers have potentially detected the first known second-generation planet; in this case, a Jupiter-like planet that likely formed from the accretion of debris cast off by a dying stellar white dwarf. Identified as HS 0209+0832, this particular white dwarf’s unusual atmospheric makeup is what first prompted the University of Warwick-led team to reanalyze 25-year-old data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

Most of all, the discovery demonstrates that close-in planets around white dwarfs can form after the star’s hydrogen-burning main sequence. Potential ‘Second generation’ planet detection around a dying stellar white dwarf opens a whole new chapter of exoplanetary science.

Located some 270 light years away in the southern constellation of Cetus, HS 0209+0832 has an atmosphere that contains zinc, copper, aluminum, silicon, and titanium. So, observing more hot white dwarfs with Hubble could discover more candidates, Williams told me.