JWST/NIRCam Imaging of Young Stellar Objects. IV. Detailed Imaging of the Protoplanetary Disk around TW Hya

arXiv:2607.23992 · astro-ph.EP, astro-ph.SR · Submitted 2026-08-19 · Read on arXiv

Yu-Chia Lin, Jarron Leisenring, Schuyler G. Wolff, Justin Hom, Kellen Lawson, Ewan S. Douglas, George Rieke, Gabriele Cugno, John Debes, Ruobing Dong, Doug Johnstone, Camryn Mullin, Taylor L. Tobin, Kevin R. Wagner, Thomas P. Greene, Michael R. Meyer, Marcia Rieke

Department of Physics, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA · Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA · Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA · Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA · Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, USA · Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA · Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA · Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA · Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, USA · Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada · NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics, Victoria, Canada · Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada · Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA · Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA · IPAC, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA · Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA · Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA

astro-ph.EP, astro-ph.SR

Submitted: 2026-08-19

Updated: 2026-08-20

Comments: 31 pages, 14 figures, 7 tables. Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal (AJ)

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The gist: As the nearest protoplanetary disk to Earth (d = 60.14 pc), TW Hya is one of the most studied protoplanetary disks and a critical benchmark for testing planet formation theories.

Terminology

Abstract

As the nearest protoplanetary disk to Earth (d = 60.14 pc), TW Hya is one of the most studied protoplanetary disks and a critical benchmark for testing planet formation theories. We present high-contrast coronagraphic imaging of the TW Hya disk from JWST/NIRCam across four filters (F187N, F200W, F356W, and F444W). We detect the disk's scattered-light emission in F200W, F356W, and F444W. An elliptical fit to the disk image yields an average inclination of i = 8.74+1.03-0.94 degrees and a position angle of PA = 75.62+7.86-6.56 degrees. We find tentative evidence for radial variations in these parameters, a trend consistent with a disk warp. Our companion search yields no new detections, placing the lowest mass limits yet on companions that might be responsible for carving out the dust gap. Assuming no local extinction and a system age of 10 Myr, the F444W data are sensitive to masses down to about 0.4,M Jup at separations of 1 arcsec (about 60 AU). Accounting for local disk extinction analogous to the AS 209 system, our limits reach sub-Jupiter masses beyond 2 arcsec. Furthermore, our analysis provides a detailed view of a previously detected feature in the outer disk at about 120 AU, confirming its morphology as a distinct bifurcation structure. This feature may indicate the presence of complex substructures arising from dynamical planet-disk interactions. These results demonstrate JWST's ability to characterize the architecture of protoplanetary disks and constrain the properties of forming worlds.

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