The disk formed when a planetary body was tidally disrupted around the white dwarf.

This was first interpreted as a clumpy disk and the change in emission lines was seen as possible evidence of these clumps moving.

[5] Modelling of the gaseous disk were carried out in 2021, finding an eccentricity of 0.188 ±0.004 and semi-major axis of 0.879 ±0.005 R☉ for the gas ring.

The precession should dissipate within around 200 years, meaning the disk is very young and should contain most of the mass of the progenitor, which they estimate to be 1021 g, equivalent to a body with a size of about 50 km.

[11] A planetesimal, called SDSS 1228+1040 b, was suggested in 2019 as an explanation of a 123.4 minute variation of the calcium emission line.

This larger parent body possibly got its crust and mantle stripped by the white dwarf, leaving the core behind.

This crust and mantle material would then form the debris disk, which is now detected around the white dwarf.

[14] More recently, the existence of the planetesimal has been questioned, the alternative hypothesis being that the disk is precessing under the forces of general relativity and gas pressure.

Especially Gaia helped in increasing this sample and these systems often also show variable emission lines,[16][17] which could be a sign of precession in these disks.