Where planets form: Hubble images reveal protoplanetary disks.

Hubble has released a gallery of visible and infrared images of protoplanetary disks and protostars that show jets, nebulae, shadows and dusty disks; NASA reports the telescope remains active and is expected to operate into the 2030s.

Hubble has released a gallery of images that illustrate where planets form around young stars. When the telescope began operations 35 years ago it was tasked with studying star formation and the environments where planets emerge. Working above Earth’s atmosphere allows Hubble to capture visible-light and infrared views of protoplanetary disks and protostars. The telescope’s long life, enabled by five servicing missions, means it continues to contribute to these questions. Selected observations: - Visible-light images from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys show four protoplanetary disks with polar jets and brightly lit nebulae; dark bands around each star are shadows cast by the disks. - Individual objects noted include HH 390 (not quite edge-on), Tau 042021 (seen edge-on with larger dust grains), HH 48 (a binary protostar where the larger star shapes its partner’s disk), and ESO Hα574 (a compact disk with a highly collimated linear jet). - Infrared images from the Wide Field Camera 3 show bright protostars and dusty disks that remain visible because dust absorbs starlight and re-emits in the infrared; examples include HOPS 150, V2764 Orionis, HOPS 179 in the Orion Molecular Cloud, and PERSEUS eHOPS-per-52 in the Perseus Molecular Cloud. Jets are not visible in those infrared frames. - The observations reflect established protostellar processes: rotating accretion disks formed by angular momentum, long periods of material accreting onto the star, and polar jets launched along magnetic field lines that can travel at several hundreds of kilometres per second and create Herbig–Haro objects that last tens of thousands of years. - Operational context: Hubble has exceeded its original 15-year expectation and has been serviced five times. It is losing gyroscopes, which has slowed pointing and reduced observations by about 12%, but NASA expects the telescope to operate into the 2030s and a reported servicing mission could extend its life. Summary: These images continue to inform understanding of how stars and planets form by showing disks, jets, and the effects of dust in both visible and infrared light. NASA reports Hubble will likely keep operating into the 2030s, and a potential servicing mission has been reported as possible, but its timing and outcome remain undetermined at this time.