The companion candidate near Fomalhaut - a background neutron star?

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The directly detected planetary mass companion candidate close to the young, nearby star Fomalhaut is a subject of intense discussion.

• While the detection of common proper motion led to the interpretation as Jovian-mass companion, later non-detections in the infrared raised doubts.
• Recent astrometric measurements indicate a belt crossing or highly eccentric orbit for the object, if a companion, making the planetary interpretation potentially even more problematic.
• In this study we discuss the possibility of Fomalhaut\,b being a background object with a high proper motion.