Overview
- A peer‑reviewed study in Science concludes that Fomalhaut’s cs1 (2004) and cs2 (2023) are transient dust clouds from asteroid‑scale collisions, not planets.
- Researchers estimate the colliding planetesimals were roughly 60 kilometers across in both events.
- The detections imply an unexpectedly large reservoir of debris, with about 300 million similar bodies inferred in the system.
- The observed frequency—two collisions in roughly two decades—far exceeds models that predicted events about once every 100,000 years.
- Astronomers will keep tracking cs2 with Hubble and JWST to monitor changes in its shape, brightness, and orbit, noting that such clouds can mimic planets in reflected light.