NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured a stunning image of a massive protoplanetary disk nicknamed “Dracula’s Chivito.” Spanning 400 billion miles, this chaotic nursery provides a rare look at the turbulent process of planet formation.
Astronomers have hit a new milestone in deep-space observation. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, researchers have imaged the largest protoplanetary disk ever recorded—a swirling mass of gas and dust circling a young star where future planets are currently being born.
Located approximately 1,000 light-years from Earth, this celestial structure, officially known as IRAS 23077+6707, has been playfully nicknamed “Dracula’s Chivito” due to its “vampiric” appearance and resemblance to a sandwich (a chivito is a national dish of Uruguay).
A Giant Among Planetary Nurseries.
The scale of Dracula’s Chivito is difficult to comprehend. It spans nearly 400 billion miles in diameter. To put that in perspective, it is roughly 40 times the size of our solar system, extending far beyond the reaches of our own Kuiper Belt.
While astronomers have seen planet-forming disks before, Hubble’s visible-light perspective has revealed that this particular disk is unexpectedly “chaotic.”
Why “Dracula’s Chivito” is Unique.
The new images, published in The Astrophysical Journal, highlight several features that have stunned the scientific community:
- Asymmetric Beauty: Unlike many disks that appear uniform, this one is lopsided. Strange, finger-like filaments of gas and dust stretch far above the disk on only one side.
- A “Hamburger” View: Because the disk is tilted edge-on from our perspective, it looks like a glowing sandwich. A dark central lane of dust (the “meat”) is sandwiched between two bright layers of reflecting starlight (the “buns”).
- Extreme Turbulence: The “wispy” layers suggest that the environment is far more violent and active than previously thought, likely due to a recent “infall” of new material.
Scaling Up the Early Solar System.
“Dracula’s Chivito” provides a unique laboratory for NASA. Scientists believe the disk contains enough mass—estimated at 10 to 30 times the mass of Jupiter—to form an entire system of gas giant planets.
“Hubble has given us a front-row seat to the chaotic processes that are shaping disks as they build new planets,” says co-investigator Joshua Bennett Lovell. By studying this massive system, researchers hope to better understand how our own solar system may have formed billions of years ago.
What’s Next for Hubble and Webb?
This discovery marks a new chapter for the NASA Hubble Mission Team. While Hubble captures the visible-light detail, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) may soon follow up with infrared observations to peer through the thick dust and reveal the young star (or pair of stars) hidden at the center.
As NASA continues to lead the exploration of the universe, “Dracula’s Chivito” stands as a reminder that the birth of a planet is not a quiet event—it is a massive, chaotic, and awe-inspiring spectacle.