The James Webb Space Telescope has unveiled a new high-resolution image of HH 30, a protoplanetary disk located in the Taurus molecular cloud. This region is a stellar nursery where stars are born and planets may be forming, and the discoveries promise to transform our understanding of the initial stages of planetary system creation.
HH 30, situated in the dark cloud LDN 1551, is a Herbig-Haro object, bright regions formed by the violent interaction of jets of gas and dust expelled by newborn stars. This disk, observed edge-on, is considered the prototype of this type of structure. Its unique position makes it a perfect laboratory for studying the behavior of dust particles in the chaotic environment of a forming star.
Thanks to the combined capabilities of Webb, Hubble, and ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array), an international team of scientists has been able to unravel incredible details about the composition and dynamics of the disk.
Webb revealed that the smallest dust grains – with sizes comparable to bacteria – are scattered throughout the disk, while larger grains tend to concentrate in a thin central layer. This separation is crucial, as it marks an important stage in planet formation, where dust begins to clump together to form larger structures, such as pebbles.
HH 30 is not just a disk of dust. The images show an impressive complexity: a high-speed jet of gas emerges perpendicular to the central disk, surrounded by a conical flow of material and a broad nebula reflecting the light of the young star hidden inside.