Suggested Searches

 

1 min read

Protoplanetary Disk XUE 1 (Artist Concept)

The image is dominated by a dusty disk extending from upper left to lower right and tilted toward the viewer. It resembles patchy clouds with small rocky bits scattered throughout. At 4 o’clock and 11 o’clock are two small, embedded planets. The outer edges of the disk are reddish, the middle orange, and the inner region yellow-white. At the center is a gap within which is a bright white star.

This is an artist’s impression of a young star surrounded by a protoplanetary disk in which planets are forming. 

An international team of astronomers have used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to provide the first observation of water and other molecules in the highly irradiated inner, terrestrial-planet forming regions of a disk in one of the most extreme environments in our galaxy. These results suggest that the conditions for rocky-planet formation, typically found in the disks of low-mass star-forming regions, can also occur in massive-star-forming regions and possibly a broader range of environments than previously thought. 

  • Release Date
    November 30, 2023
  • Science Release
    Webb Study Reveals Rocky Planets Can Form in Extreme Environments
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Illustration: ESO

Downloads

  • Full Res (For Display), 3000 × 2000
    jpg (7.18 MB)
  • Full Res (For Print), 3000 × 2000
    tif (12.3 MB)

Related Images & Videos

Graphic titled “XUE 1 Irradiated Protoplanetary Disk, MIRI Medium -Resolution Spectroscopy” shows a graph of brightness versus wavelength from 13.3 to 15.5 microns, with acetylene, hydrogen cyanide, water, and carbon dioxide peaks highlighted.

Protoplanetary Disk XUE 1 (MIRI Emission Spectrum: 13.3–15.5 microns)

This graphic presents some of the first results from the eXtreme UV Environments (XUE) James Webb Space Telescope program. Astronomers focused on rocky-planet-forming regions of disks in the Lobster Nebula using Webb’s Medium Resolution Spectrometer (MRS) of the Mid-Infrared...

Graphic titled “XUE 1 Irradiated Protoplanetary Disk, MIRI Medium -Resolution Spectroscopy” shows a graph of brightness versus wavelength from 4.95 to 5.15 microns, with carbon monoxide peaks highlighted.

Protoplanetary Disk XUE 1 (MIRI Emission Spectrum: 4.95–5.15 microns)

This graphic presents some of the first results from the eXtreme UV Environments (XUE) James Webb Space Telescope program. Astronomers focused on rocky-planet-forming regions of disks in the Lobster Nebula using Webb’s Medium Resolution Spectrometer (MRS) of the Mid-Infrared...

Share

Details

Last Updated
Nov 17, 2025
Contact
Media

Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov

Illustration Credit

ESO

Related Terms

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

James Webb Space Telescope

Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the…

Science Overview

Webb Observatory

Webb Image Galleries