Astronomers say they have found the first possible example of a planet that formed from the ashes of its dead host star, a discovery described as a cosmic first.

The study, published Monday in Nature Astronomy, focuses on the white dwarf HS 0209+0832, about 270 light-years from Earth. A likely gas giant orbits the stellar remnant. After studying observations from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and other instruments, the team found chemical evidence suggesting the planet condensed from material the star shed as it died and collapsed into a white dwarf.

The telltale clue is an unusual chemical signature on the white dwarf's surface: heavy elements including niobium, found at levels more than 1,000 times higher than the sun's. Niobium has never been found in a white dwarf before, according to the researchers.

"Niobium is the first time that this element is found in a white dwarf, and this implies that the planetary material is made from the ashes of the star as it died," said lead author Jamie Williams of the University of Warwick. The team believes a companion star may have helped form the disk of debris from which the new planet was born.

Reporting based on: kioncentralcoast.com, phys.org.