Is Fomalhaut b a Real Exoplanet? How the ‘First Visible-Light Exoplanet’ Likely Vanished Fomalhaut b is now considered not to be a real exoplanet. Follow-up Hubble observations showed the object fading and expanding over time, behavior that matches an expanding dust cloud from a recent collision between two icy bodies in the Fomalhaut debris disk rather than a solid, planet-sized body. NASA has summarized the reversal, which updated the 2008 claim of the first visible-light exoplanet image around the nearby star Fomalhaut.

Remember the 'first visible-light exoplanet' Fomalhaut b? Turns out it was likely a short-lived dust cloud, not a world, caught by Hubble as it faded and spread. Were you following this saga? #DebrisDisk #DirectImaging #Exoplanets #FomalhautB #HubbleSpaceTelescope

HD 61005 disk is shaped like a fan.

HD 181327 disk is shaped like a ring

Debris disks around HD 61005 and HD 181327 with #JWST NIRCam coronagraph. 🔭 ⭐+⚫= #DebrisDisk 💿
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HD... and commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HD...

Fomalhaut's Warped Debris Ring Suggests Hidden Planet

ALMA 1.3‑mm images show Fomalhaut’s dusty ring becomes less eccentric farther out, suggesting a massive unseen planet shaping the inner disk. Reported in Astrophysical Journal Letters. Read more: getnews.me/fomalhauts-warped-debris... #fomalhaut #debrisdisk

Water ice in the debris disk around HD 181327 Debris disks are exoplanetary systems that contain planets, minor bodies (i.e., asteroids, Kuiper belt objects, comets, etc.), and micron-sized debris dust. Since water ice is the most common frozen v...

Water ice in the #DebrisDisk around HD 181327: arxiv.org/abs/2505.08863 -> The First Detection of Water Ice in an Exo-Kuiper Belt: astrobites.org/2025/05/22/w...