Fact Sheet
Hidden Planet?
This infrared image from the Spitzer Space Telescope hints that one or more planets may orbit Fomalhaut, a nearby bright star in the southern constellation Piscis Austrinus. A disk of dust that encircles the star glows in infrared light, which SST detected. But one side of the disk (at the bottom of the picture) is brighter than the other. This could indicate that a planet is hidden inside this portion of the disk, and its gravity is causing more of the dust grains to congregate around it. The telescope will study the disks of material around many other stars in hopes of detecting more possible planets. [Credit: NASA/JPL/K. Stapelfeldt]
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