The Space Telescope Science Institute has awarded Assistant Professor Keri Hoadley  $24,799  for a project entitled “Jets and disk scattering - Spatially resolved optical and FUV observations of AA Tau.”

The award is for a Hubble Space Telescope program to analyze new far-ultraviolet and optical observations of a protostar hosting a planet-forming disk, analogous to the one formed in our own Solar System.

"Over the last 10 years or so, that disk has tilted in such a way that it blocks a lot of light directly from the young star, which allows us to do some interesting experiments with it that we otherwise would not be able to do," Hoadley said.

This program specifically looks to connect how young stars release angular momentum through jet outflow, which helps them spin down over time, and just how much angular momentum is being ejected in AA Tau's jet at this period in the star's formation. "If they did not have a way to remove angular momentum, stars would spin themselves apart!" Hoadley explained.