At a distance of 140 light-years, a massive planet might be orbiting in the habitable zone of a bright, hot star. While its existence has only a 50 percent chance of being confirmed, the method used to detect it has revealed worlds previously hidden from view. In late September 2026, American astronomers announced an unexpected candidate orbiting a star twice as massive as the Sun. Their findings, published in The Astrophysical Journal, were led by Logan Wilson and his team from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Until now, no planets had been found in the correct location around such a luminous star. This candidate, however, remains uncertain, with the researchers themselves estimating a one-in-two chance of its actual existence. The candidate is cataloged as HD 156295 b. It would have a mass 6.3 times that of Jupiter and would take about 2,200 days, or nearly six Earth years, to complete its orbit. It would be located at a distance of 3.9 astronomical units from its star, with an astronomical unit defined as the average distance between Earth and the Sun. At this distance, the planet would receive about 60 percent of the radiation Earth receives from the Sun, placing it in the habitable zone where liquid water could potentially exist. To detect this planet, the team used a unique characteristic of the star HD 156295, which belongs to the Delta Scuti class of stars. These stars pulse rhythmically, like a clock, expanding and contracting with regular intervals. By measuring the tiny delays in these pulsations, the researchers could detect the gravitational influence of a massive companion. A planet’s gravity would cause the star to oscillate slightly, making the light from the star arrive a little earlier or later than expected. HD 156295 is not suitable for traditional planet detection methods. Stars of type A, like HD 156295, rotate quickly and have broad spectral lines, making it difficult to use the radial velocity method. Detecting a planet through its transit — when it passes in front of the star — also requires a precise alignment that is rare. Out of more than 6,300 known exoplanets, only a few orbit A-type stars. The team analyzed 16,440 Delta Scuti stars observed by the American satellite TESS, which is designed to survey exoplanets using the transit method. Only nine systems passed their selection criteria. Of these nine systems, eight are likely to host brown dwarfs — objects more massive than planets but not heavy enough to sustain hydrogen fusion like stars. Their masses range from 25 to 59 times that of Jupiter, and their orbital periods span 1,100 to 2,800 days. The ninth system is HD 156295. Located 140 light-years away, the star is much hotter and brighter than the Sun, shining nine times more intensely and with a surface temperature of about 7,500 degrees Celsius. Despite the intriguing signal, the researchers estimate only a 50 percent chance that the planet actually exists, as the signal is at the limit of what current data can confirm. Future instruments, such as the European Space Agency’s PLATO telescope, will provide more precise observations. While a gas giant of this size is unlikely to host life, the system, about 700 million years old, has only experienced one-sixth of the Sun’s lifespan.