An independent determination of Fomalhaut b’s orbit and the dynamical effects on the outer dust belt

Context. The nearby star Fomalhaut harbors a cold, moderately eccentric (e ~ 0.1) dust belt with a sharp inner edge near 133 au. A low-mass, common proper motion companion, Fomalhaut b (Fom b), was discovered near the inner edge and was identified as a planet candidate that could account for the belt morphology. However, the most recent orbit determination based on four epochs of astrometry over eight years reveals a highly eccentric orbit (e = 0.8 ± 0.1) that appears to cross the belt in the sky plane projection.