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Suspected Second-generation Planet Solves NASA Hubble Cold Case

A gaseous planet in the right foreground, seen mostly in silhouette, orbits a small, white star in the background at left. The star is surrounded by a thin, bright white disk tilted from lower left to upper right. A semi-transparent tail of material comes off the planet toward upper right. Distant stars dot the black background of space.

This artist’s concept depicts a possible explanation for the unusual chemical abundances NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope detected in the HS 0209+0832 system: a second-generation planet orbiting a white dwarf star.

Credits:
Artwork: NASA, ESA, Leah Hustak (STScI)

Diligent sleuthing by astronomers has broken open a cold case in the data archive of NASA’s Read the original →