Astronomers have found the first possible “second-generation” planet — a world that may have formed around a dead star.

The study, published in Nature Astronomy, focuses on the white dwarf HS 0209+0832, about 270 light-years from Earth. NASA’s TESS telescope saw a light signal every 4.4 days, hinting at a Jupiter-sized planet in a tight orbit.

The team found the white dwarf is surrounded by a rare, niobium-rich material. That suggests the material came from a gas giant that was ripped apart by the dying star — and the new planet could have formed from the debris.

“We are seeing a Phoenix planet,” said Jamie Williams, the study’s author at the University of Warwick. If confirmed, it would be the first planet ever found to have formed around a white dwarf.

White dwarfs are the leftover cores of dead stars, usually thought unable to host new planets. Finding a planet there changes what scientists believe is possible. Follow-up observations will test whether the 4.4-day signal is really a planet. If confirmed, astronomers may search other white dwarfs for similar ‘Phoenix’ worlds.