Webb investigates protoplanetary disk in extreme detail, observes glowing interstellar material

Date:
Sun, 09 Feb 2025 20:42:19 +0000

Description:
The joint NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) James Webb Space The post Webb investigates protoplanetary disk in extreme detail, observes glowing interstellar material appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

FULL STORY ======================================================================

The joint NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) James Webb Space Telescope, located at the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2, recently utilized its extraordinary suite of infrared instruments to investigate and image a protoplanetary disk around a newborn star. Webbs observations provided scientists with unprecedented views of the disk, material jets, and conical outflow of the system.

Whats more, Webb used its Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) instrument to observe glowing interstellar gas and dust illuminated by a supernova explosion approximately 350 years ago. The material glows in infrared light, and Webbs observations provided scientists with the data needed to create a 3D
structure of the interstellar medium for the first time.



Webb investigates HH 30s protoplanetary disk

The protoplanetary disk seen in Webbs observations is known as HH 30, a Herbig-Haro (HH) object. These objects are bright patches of nebulae that surround newborn stars in star-forming regions. More specifically, HH objects mark locations where gas flows from newborn stars. Shockwaves from the nearby star ripple through the gas, heating it and causing it to glow.

In HH 30, outflowing gas is seen in the form of two narrow jets: a prominent jet above the star and a smaller, dimmer jet below it. The newborn star creating these jets is hidden behind the dark protoplanetary disk at the center of the system. Webb, Hubble, and ALMAs observations of HH 30. (Credit: ESA/Webb/NASA/CSA/Hubble/ALMA/ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)

HH 30 was first discovered by the joint NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and
is known as an edge-on protoplanetary disk prototype. Scientists are interested in these types of protoplanetary disks as their unique positions relative to Earth allow them to investigate how dust grains move around the newborn star. See Also JWST Mission Updates Space Science Coverage NSF Store Click here to Join L2

For Webbs latest observations of HH 30, Webbs team combined observations from Webb, Hubble, and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescopes to create a collection of multi-wavelength data.

ALMAs long-wavelength data of HH 30 allowed scientists to trace the locations of millimeter-sized dust grains to a narrow region in the central plane of
the disk. These grains are around the same size as a single bacterium (one-millionth of a meter in length) and are more evenly distributed throughout the disk than larger dust grains commonly found in the densest parts of the disk.

Furthermore, combining ALMAs observations with Hubble and Webbs showed that large dust grains migrate within the disk and must settle in a thin layer.
The formation of this thin, narrow layer of dust is a critical step in the planetary formation process, as the dust grains inevitably clump together to form planets. Annotated image of HH 30 highlighting structures. (Credit: ESA/Webb/NASA/CSA/Tazaki et al.)

The joint Webb, Hubble, and ALMA observations also revealed distinct structures within HH 30. Many of these structures are woven in and around one another. For example, a high-velocity jet of gas emerges from the narrow central disk at a 90-degree angle. Surrounding this jet is a broad, cone-shaped outflow of gas and dust. Around this conical outflow is a nebula that serves as a magnifying gas for the light emitted by the young star.

Webb observed HH 30 as part of the Webb GO program #2562, led by Francois Menard of the Institut de Planetologie et dAstrophysique de Grenoble and Karl Stapelfeldt of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The program aims to better understand the evolution of dust and other materials within edge-on protoplanetary disks like HH 30.

Menard et al.s results were published in January.

Webb observes a glowing cosmic curtain

Around 350 years ago, the core of a massive star in the constellation Cassiopeia collapsed, leading to a massive supernova explosion full of
intense pulses of X-rays and ultraviolet (UV) light that radiated outward
into the space surrounding the supernova. These X-rays and UV light pulses ultimately reached interstellar material, causing the material to warm up and glow in infrared light.

Scientists recently investigated this glowing interstellar material using Webbs NIRCam instrument. Webbs observations are allowing scientists to view the interstellar medium in extreme detail and create the first three-dimensional structure map of it.



We were pretty shocked to see this level of detail, said lead author and principal investigator Jacob Jencson of Caltech/IPAC in Pasadena, California.

We see layers like an onion. We think every dense, dusty region that we see, and most of the ones we dont see, look like this on the inside. We just have never been able to look inside them before, said co-author Josh Peek of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Maryland.

Interstellar material glowing from light emitted by a nearby supernova is known as light echoes. In visible wavelengths, light echoes are created by light reflecting off interstellar material. However, in infrared wavelengths (which Webb observes), light echoes are created by the heating of
interstellar material by energetic radiation, causing it to glow.

NASAs now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope observed the light echo at the center of Webbs latest observations. This light echo is one of several
located around the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant. Supernova remnants are the structures of gas and dust left over from the explosions of stars (supernovae). Interestingly, the light echo is caused by material located behind Cassiopeia A, not material emitted during the supernova explosion that created Cassiopeia A. Webb images of the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant and the nearby light echo. Background image of the region surrounding Cassiopeia
A taken by Spitzer. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Y. Kim (Univ. of Arizona/Univ. of Chicago)/ESA/CSA/STScI/Danny Milisavljevic (Purdue University)/Ilse De Looze (UGent)/Tea Temim (Princeton University)/J. Jencson (Caltech/IPAC))

Webbs observations show tightly packed sheets of material in the light echo. Within these sheets are remarkably small and intricate structures on the
scale of roughly 400 astronomical units, or less than one-hundredth of a light-year. Webbs ability to observe such small structures in extreme detail is extraordinarily impressive, and Peek et al. were stunned to see the structures in the data. Interstellar magnetic fields likely create the sheet structures.

We did not know that the interstellar medium had structures on that small of
a scale, let alone that it was sheet-like, said Peek.

The observations also highlighted dense and tightly wound regions of material within the light echo. These dense regions resemble the whorls and knots of wood grain and may represent magnetic islands within the overall magnetic fields that shape the interstellar material.

This is the astronomical equivalent of a medical CT scan. We have three
slices taken at three different times, which will allow us to study the true 3D structure. It will completely change the way we study the interstellar medium, said co-author Armin Rest of STScI. Light from a supernova explosion travels through interstellar material near Cassiopeia A. (Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/J. Jencson (Caltech/IPAC))

With Webbs near-infrared observations of the light echo complete, Peek et al. are preparing for Webb to collect mid-infrared and spectroscopic observations of the light echo using its powerful Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). For
these observations, Webb will observe the light echo several times throughout several months. The team hopes that the observations will allow them to view the evolution of the light echo as it passes through the interstellar material.

We can observe the same patch of dust before, during, and after its illuminated by the echo and try to look for any changes in the compositions
or states of the molecules, including whether some molecules or even the smallest dust grains are destroyed, said Jencson. Compass image of the Cassiopeia A light echo as imaged by Webbs NIRCam instrument. (Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Jacob Jencson (Caltech/IPAC))

Infrared light echoes are extremely rare, as they can only be created by a specific type of supernova explosion that releases short pulses of energetic radiation. Fortunately, NASAs upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will be able to search the galactic plane for infrared light echoes. Once Roman identifies infrared light echoes, Webb will investigate them using its suite of infrared instruments.

Webb observed the light echo near Cassiopeia A as part of the Webb GO
program #5451. (Lead image: (Left) Webb image of HH 30 and its surrounding protoplanetary disk. Credit: ESA/Webb/NASA/CSA/Tazaki et al. (Right) Webb image of the light echo moving through interstellar material. Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/J. Jencson (Caltech/IPAC))



The post Webb investigates protoplanetary disk in extreme detail, observes glowing interstellar material appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .



======================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2025/02/webb-hh30-cass-a/


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Science News (1337:1/100)