How do stars
and planets form? New clues have been found in the protoplanetary system Herbig-Haro 30 by the James Webb Space
Telescope in concert with Hubble and the Earth-bound ALMA. The observations show, among other things, that large dust grains are more concentrated into a central disk
where they can form planets. The featured image from Webb shows many attributes of the active
HH-30 system. Jets of particles are being expelled vertically,
shown in red, while a dark dust-rich disk is seen across the center, blocking the light
from the star or stars still forming there. Blue-reflecting dust is seen in a parabolic arc above and below the central disk, although why a
tail appears on the lower left is currently unknown. Studying how planets form in HH 30 can help astronomers better understand how
planets in our own Solar System once formed, including our Earth.
Image & info via APOD
Image Credit: James Webb Space
Telescope, ESA, NASA & CSA, R. Tazaki et al.
Source: HH
30: A Star System with Planets Now Forming – Scents of Science
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