Webb's new image reveals in unprecedented detail a protoplanetary disk around a star in formation, surrounded by jets and disk winds with open edges. This structure is among the Herbig-Haro objects, which form when jets of gas ejected from stars or stellar winds collide at high speed with surrounding gas and dust, creating shock waves.

Observing such a formation from the side gives astronomers the opportunity to study the motion of dust grains around the star. If a narrow and dense layer of dust forms in the disk, this could mark a critical stage in the process of planetary formation. In this dense region, dust grains coalesce to form pebbles and then planets.

The image shown on the second slide is labeled. It shows a high-velocity jet of gas traveling at exactly 90 degrees to the narrow central disk. This narrow jet is surrounded by a wider, conical outflow. The large nebula surrounding the conical outflow reflects the light of the young star inside the disk. All these data suggest that HH 30 is a dynamic environment where both small dust grains and large jets of gas play an important role in the formation of new planets.

Image Description:

(slide 1) Close-up of a protoplanetary disk around a newly formed star. Many different wavelengths of light are combined and represented in separate and varied colors. The dark line across the center is the disk of opaque dust: the star is hidden here, creating a strong glow in the center. A band straight up is a jet, while other outflows create flares above and below the disk and a tail extending to one side.

(slide 2) Close-up of the HH 30 protoplanetary disk. Parts of the image are labeled “Jet” (above and below the disk), “Conical Outlet”, “Possible Spiral”, “Dark Strip”, “Disk” and “Tail”. A scale mark in the lower left is labeled “300 au”, which is slightly wider than the disk itself, but less wide than the conical outflows above and below the disk.