Scientists spot 'unprecedented celestial event' around the 'Eye of Sauron' star just 25 light-years from Earth

Two massive cosmic car crashes have fooled astronomers into thinking they discovered a planet around Fomalhaut, a nearby star nicknamed the "Eye of Sauron" for its glowing dust ring. What appeared to be an exoplanet reflecting starlight turned out to be glittering debris clouds from catastrophic collisions between rocky planetesimals four to six times larger than the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs.

The plot twist unfolded over two decades as the supposed planet blinked out of existence, only for another bright spot to appear nearby. These collisions, theoretically expected once every 100,000 years, happened twice in just 20 years around this young star system 25 light-years away.

Scientists now estimate that 22 million similar smash-ups have occurred during Fomalhaut's 440-million-year lifetime. The system harbors about 300 million planetesimals and enough smaller debris to constantly replenish its spectacular dust belt, offering a window into our own solar system's chaotic infancy.

There's still a 10% chance an unseen planet orchestrated these collisions through gravitational influence, meaning Fomalhaut might yet harbor the world astronomers originally sought.