WD 1856 b is the only confirmed planet that has survived the death of a Sun-like star. This Jupiter-sized planet orbits a white dwarf, which is the remnant of a Sun-like star. A team of astronomers utilized the James Webb Space Telescope to examine this planet for the first time, revealing new insights into its unusual characteristics.
WD 1856 b was discovered accidentally when astronomers directed the TESS observatory at a sample of approximately 2,000 white dwarfs in 2020. These stars are the remnants of Sun-like stars that have gone through a red-giant phase, leaving behind a core primarily composed of carbon and oxygen. The TESS team was initially searching for smaller objects, such as comets or asteroids, that might transit across these dead stars.
Upon investigation, they found a gas giant instead. Christopher O’Connor, a theoretical astrophysicist at Cornell University and co-author of a recent study published in Nature, remarked on the unexpected nature of the discovery.