The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a joint endeavor of NASA, ESA, and CSA, has captured a stunning image of HH 30, a protoplanetary disk located in the Taurus Molecular Cloud. This edge-on disk, surrounded by jets and a disk wind, is a prime target for astronomers studying planet formation.
HH 30, a Herbig-Haro object, is a luminous region surrounding a newborn star, known as a protostar. These objects form when stellar winds or jets of gas from the protostar collide with nearby gas and dust at high speeds, creating shockwaves.
The JWST's observations, combined with data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), provide a multiwavelength view of the system. The long-wavelength data from ALMA trace the location of millimeter-sized dust grains, concentrated in the central plane of the disk. Meanwhile, the shorter-wavelength infrared data from JWST reveal the distribution of smaller dust grains, only one millionth of a meter across. These smaller grains are more widespread than the larger ones.
The JWST observations, part of the Webb GO program #2562, aim to understand how dust evolves in edge-on disks like HH 30. The data show that larger dust grains migrate within the disk and settle in a thin layer, a crucial step in planet formation. This dense layer allows dust grains to clump together, forming pebbles and eventually planets.
The images from JWST, Hubble, and ALMA also reveal intricate structures nested within each other. A high-velocity jet of gas emerges at a 90-degree angle from the narrow central disk, surrounded by a wider, cone-shaped outflow. This outflow is enclosed by a wide nebula reflecting light from the young star embedded within the disk.
These observations highlight the dynamic nature of HH 30, where both tiny dust grains and massive jets play a role in the formation of new planets. The JWST's unprecedented detail provides invaluable insights into the complex processes involved in planet formation, advancing our understanding of the origins of planetary systems.