This image, taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, shows the newly discovered planet, Fomalhaut b, orbiting its parent star, Fomalhaut.
The small white box at lower right pinpoints the planet's location. Fomalhaut b has carved a path along the inner edge of a vast, dusty debris ring encircling Fomalhaut that is 21.5 billion miles across. Fomalhaut b lies 1.8 billion miles inside the ring's inner edge and orbits 10.7 billion miles from its star.
The inset at bottom right is a composite image showing the planet's position during Hubble observations taken in 2004 and 2006. Astronomers have calculated that Fomalhaut b completes an orbit around its parent star every 872 years.
The white dot in the center of the image marks the star's location. The region around Fomalhaut's location is black because astronomers used the Advanced Camera's coronagraph to block out the star's bright glare so that the dim planet could be seen. Fomalhaut b is 1 billion times fainter than its star. The radial streaks are scattered starlight. The red dot at lower left is a background star.
The Fomalhaut system is 25 light-years away in the constellation Piscis Australis.
This false-color image was taken in October 2004 and July 2006.
Credits
NASA, ESA, P. Kalas, J. Graham, E. Chiang, E. Kite (University of California, Berkeley), M. Clampin (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), M. Fitzgerald (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), and K. Stapelfeldt and J. Krist (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Fomalhaut, HD 216956, Fomalhaut b |
| Object Description | Exoplanet Orbiting Fomalhaut |
| R.A. Position | 22h 57m 39.04s |
| Dec. Position | -29° 37' 20.04" |
| Constellation | Piscis Austrinus |
| Distance | 25 light-years (8 parsecs) |
| Dimensions | This image is roughly 375 AU (49 arcseconds) wide. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | HST Proposal: P. Kalas and J. Graham (University of California, Berkeley) and M. Clampin (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center); and 10598: P. Kalas, J. Graham, and E. Chiang (University of California, Berkeley), M. Clampin (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), and K. Stapelfeldt and J. Krist (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory). The science team includes: P. Kalas and E. Chiang (University of California, Berkeley), M. Fitzgerald (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), M. Clampin (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), E. Kite (University of California, Berkeley), J. Krist and K. Stapelfeldt (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory), and J. Graham (University of California, Berkeley). |
| Instrument | HST>ACS/HRC |
| Exposure Dates | October 2004 and July 2006, Exposure Time: 11.4 hours |
| Filters | F435W (B), F606W (V), and F814W (I) |
| About The Image | |
| Compass Image |  |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The 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. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
