The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been offering us a breathtaking new perspective on the Universe since its launch.
This latest image of the protostar HH30 reveals stunning new details, thanks to JWST. Originally discovered with the Hubble Space Telescope, this Herbig-Haro object—a dark molecular cloud—is an ideal target for JWST’s observations.
The image captures the protoplanetary disk seen edge-on, accompanied by a conical outflow of gas and dust, with a narrow jet streaming into space.
JWST is often regarded as the most sophisticated space observatory ever constructed. Launched on December 25, 2021, it orbits the Sun at the second Lagrange point, approximately 1.5 million kilometers from Earth.
Equipped with a 6.5-meter gold-coated mirror and highly sensitive infrared instruments, JWST can penetrate cosmic dust to investigate the birth of stars, galaxies, and even the atmospheres of exoplanets. It has already provided us with extraordinary images of deep space, unveiling galaxies from the early Universe.
Recently, JWST has been used to examine the protostar HH30. This young stellar system, situated about 450 light-years away in the constellation Taurus, is embedded within the dark cloud LDN1551. At its core lies a newly forming star, enshrouded by a dense disk of gas and dust that sustains its development.
HH30 is classified as a Herbig-Haro object—a small, luminous nebula found in star-forming regions. These nebulae form when high-speed jets of ionized gas from newborn stars collide with surrounding interstellar matter.
Typically located near protostars, Herbig-Haro objects tend to align along the axis of bipolar outflows. As these jets propel through space at hundreds of kilometers per second, they generate shock waves that heat the surrounding gas, causing it to emit light in both visible and infrared wavelengths.
These objects are transient by nature, evolving over a few thousand years as their jets interact with ever-changing environments.
HH30 is best known for its remarkable bipolar jets, which are ejected from the protostar at immense speeds. Observations from the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed a striking silhouette of the dusty disk, seen edge-on, blocking the central star while allowing astronomers to study the intricate mechanisms of star and planet formation.
To investigate the structure of the disk in multiple wavelengths, a team of astronomers combined data from JWST, HST, and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). The resulting observations have been beautifully showcased in this newly released Picture of the Month, revealing HH30 in unprecedented clarity.
JWST’s infrared capabilities enabled researchers to pinpoint the locations of sub-millimeter-sized dust grains, while ALMA provided further insight. With ALMA, astronomers examined millimeter-sized dust grains, discovering that these larger particles, unlike their smaller counterparts, were concentrated in a narrow region within the plane of the disk, whereas the finer dust grains were distributed more widely.
The study found that larger dust grains appear to migrate within the disk, eventually settling into a thin layer. This is believed to be a crucial stage in planetary system formation, where dust particles coalesce into small rocks and, over time, develop into planets.
Beyond revealing the behavior of dust grains in HH30, the study also identified multiple interwoven structures. A narrow, high-velocity jet was observed emerging from the central disk.
This jet appears to be encased within a broader, more cone-shaped outflow of gas. These findings not only enhance our understanding of how exoplanetary systems take shape but also provide valuable insights into the origins of our own Solar System.
