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