Post-impact Dust Clouds cs1 & cs2 around Star Fomalhaut | Hubble Space Telescope

Post-impact Dust Clouds cs1 & cs2 around Star Fomalhaut | Hubble Space Telescope

This composite NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope image shows the debris ring and dust clouds cs1 and cs2 around the star Fomalhaut. For comparison, dust cloud cs1, imaged in 2012, is pictured with dust cloud cs2, imaged in 2023. The dashed circles mark the location of these clouds. When dust cloud cs2 suddenly appeared, astronomers quickly noticed they had witnessed the violent collision of two massive objects. Previously thought to be a planet, cs1 is now classified as a similar debris cloud. In this image, Fomalhaut itself is masked out to allow the fainter features to be seen. Its location is marked by the white star.

This image was created from Hubble data from proposal #17139 (P. Kalas).

Image Description: Image labeled Fomalhaut system, Hubble Space Telescope. A grainy orange oval ring tilts slightly from upper right to lower left. At two o’clock, a white box outlines the ring’s edge and white lines extend to a larger pullout at lower right. Two spots are labeled cs1 2013 and cs2 2023. Inside the ring is a black circle with a white star symbol in the middle.

Credit: NASA, ESA, P. Kalas (UC Berkeley), J. DePasquale (STScI)
Release Date: Dec. 18, 2025

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