14 DAY TRIAL // Fomalhaut b has only been discovered for four years, but it's already been put to death and brought back to life. In 2008, astronomers announced that they found a very interesting planet, one thought to be the size of Saturn inside the middle of a very large dust cloud.
It was the first planet to have been discovered in visible light using Hubble images. The strangeness of the planet and the fact that it was the first ever "seen" made it quite unique.
But later analysis in infrared failed to detect the planet and there were some doubts about its apparent orbit. In light of the new evidence, the planet was discarded as short lived gas cloud.
Astronomers looked again at past imagery from Hubble and they saw the planet again. What's more, they found explanations for both the fact that the planet was not seen in infrared and the strange orbit and the shape of the dust cloud around it.
It is now believed that the planet is smaller than originally thought which would explain why it's not visible in infrared. Further, its peculiar motion is explained by the effect it has on the giant gas cloud and the effect the cloud has on it.