Mysterious exoplanet was just a big cloud of asteroid trash, study suggests

[FfFfFfFF 58,120]

The distant world — known as Fomalhaut b and located a neighborly 25 light-years from Earth — was infamous for being one of the first exoplanets ever discovered in visible light by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope; when astronomers first caught sight of it in 2004 and 2006, the planet appeared as a bright, cool dot moving briskly across the sky. Ten years later, that dot had vanished.

According to researchers, the object astronomers saw in 2004 and 2006 was actually a colossal cloud of icy debris created by a recent, violent collision between two planetary fragments.

In a way, this cosmic case of mistaken identity makes the discovery of Fomalhaut b even more rare and exciting, lead study author Andras Gaspar said in a statement.

"These collisions are exceedingly rare and so this is a big deal that we actually get to see evidence of one," said Gaspar, an assistant astronomer at the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory.

 

 

Source: https://www.space.com/disappearing-exoplanet-fomalhaut-b.html

[Maleficent 6]

We all know what really happened 

stop hiding the truth NASA 

[elijahfan 27,484]

Sounds like what's happening on the Chromatica thread: mysterious leak was just a big bunch of potato quality trash.

[Maleficent 6]

Just now, elijahfan said:

mysterious leak

mysterious leak: and other stories from the morning after my romantic encounters

[Seeka 12,372]

Sounds like my life. 

"Oh, it's just trash."