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Artist’s Concept of Exoplanet Orbiting Fomalhaut

Artist's Concept of Exoplanet Orbiting Fomalhaut
This illustration shows the newly discovered planet, Fomalhaut b, orbiting its sun, Fomalhaut. A structure comprised mostly of brown and gold colors surrounds Fomalhaut b. This structure is a Saturn-like ring that astronomers say may encircle the planet. Fomalhaut also is surrounded by a ring of material. The edge of this vast disk is shown in the background as the curving cloud-like feature that appears to intersect the 200-million-year-old star. Fomalhaut b lies 1.8 billion miles inside the disk's inner edge. The planet completes an orbit around Fomalhaut every 872 years.

About the Object

  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Piscis Austrinus
  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    25 light-years (8 parsecs)
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Exoplanet Orbiting Fomalhaut
  • Release Date
    November 13, 2008
  • Science Release
    Hubble Directly Observes Planet Orbiting Fomalhaut
    Read the release
  • Credit
    ESA, NASA, and L. Calcada (ESO for STScI)

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Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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