Artist's concept of exoplanet orbiting Fomalhaut
Date: 12 November 2008
Satellite: Hubble Space Telescope
Depicts: Fomalhaut
Copyright: ESA, NASA and L. Calçada (ESO)
This illustration shows the newly discovered planet, Fomalhaut b, orbiting its sun, Fomalhaut.
The structure depicted around Fomalhaut b 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 3000 million kilometres inside the disk's inner edge. The planet completes an orbit around Fomalhaut every 872 years.
Last Update: 1 September 2019
