Based on the pattern of 15 elements in a 3-gram sample of the stone, a team of researchers suspects Hypatia came from well beyond our stellar neighborhood, and emerged from the gas and dusty detritus that followed a distant star’s explosion.

The researchers think Hypatia came from a Type Ia supernova; these supernovae occur when white dwarves (the small, dense remnants of stars) consume so much material, often from a neighboring star, that they explode.

According to the release, the intermingling of gas atoms from the supernova and the dust in which the explosion occurred probably formed a solid rock around the early stages of our own solar system, billions of years ago.

Six elements were a lot more present than what models predict for something that came from a Type Ia supernova, though: aluminum, phosphorus, chlorine, potassium, zinc, and copper.