Overview
- Peer-reviewed Hubble images confirm IRAS 23077+6707 as the largest observed protoplanetary disk, spanning roughly 400 billion miles—about 40 times the diameter of our solar system.
- The Astrophysical Journal paper reports unprecedented visible-light detail because the disk is viewed nearly edge-on, suppressing glare from the central source.
- Researchers describe striking asymmetry, including long, filament-like structures on the disk’s northern side contrasted with a flatter, sharper edge on the opposite side.
- The disk’s estimated mass of about 10 to 30 Jupiter masses suggests capacity to form several gas giants, offering a scaled-up setting to probe how planets assemble.
- Key questions remain about the nature of the central star or stars and the physical drivers of the lopsided features, which may involve recent infall or environmental interactions.