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This illustration from the Hubble Space Telescope showcases the biggest protoplanetary plane ever documented encircling a youthful star. ESSENTIAL FACTS
Its essence: IRAS 23077+6707, the most expansive planet-birthing disk on record
Its situation: 978 light-years distant, located within the Cepheus constellation
Date of publication: Dec. 23, 2026
Full of vapor and granules, a protoplanetary disk constitutes the arena where worlds — encompassing both stony bodies, akin to Earth, and gaseous giants, comparable to Jupiter — are capable of coalescing about nascent stars. Dracula’s Chivito could, theoretically, house an extensive system of planets. Its moniker alludes to both its outward form and those who brought it to light, emanating from Transylvania, Romania (the stomping ground of the legendary Dracula), and Uruguay, where the iconic local fare is the chivito, a multi-layered delight featuring sliced beef, ham, mozzarella, tomatoes, and olives — evocative of the strata of vapor and particles in the protoplanetary plane.
Within a study featured in The Astrophysical Journal, space experts approximate that the celestial sandwich stretches nearly 400 billion miles (640 billion kilometers) — exceeding 100 times the breadth of our inner solar system, wherein the recognized planets orbit. Displaying an edge-on profile as witnessed from Earth, the entity was initially cataloged in 2016 and now stands verified as an impressive planet-incubating plane.
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Hypothesized to envelop a blazing, substantial star or a binary system at its nucleus, the immense plane exhibits unexpected turbulence, displaying radiant plumes of matter sprouting considerably aloft and below the expanse.
RELEVANT ACCOUNTS
—Eye-catching array of 400 rings in a ‘reflection’ nebula unravels a star-origin puzzle lasting 30 years
—James Webb telescope glimpses a gigantic molecular cloud, a conundrum in the making
—Dazzling recent visuals from the James Webb telescope unveil an ‘elaborate mesh of chaos’
“The profundity of details we’re perceiving is infrequent in protoplanetary disk imaging,” revealed Kristina Monsch, a scholar of the cosmos at the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) and main contributor to the study, within an announcement. “These refreshed Hubble renderings underscore that the breeding grounds of planets might be far more vibrant and disorderly than previously believed.”
The arrangement shows vivid, towering tendrils of vapor concentrated predominantly on one flank, whereas the opposing edge presents an abrupt boundary.
“We were awestruck by the asymmetrical nature of the plane,” noted co-researcher Joshua Bennett Lovell, equally an astronomer hailing from the CfA, within the pronouncement. “Hubble has furnished us with a front-row vantage point into the dynamic processes molding planes as they give rise to novel planets — processes yet to be fully demystified but now accessible for probing in an entirely revamped approach.”
For a compendium of breathtaking galactic visuals, peruse our Space Pictorial Highlight of the Week archive.
TOPICScosmos pictorial highlight of the week
Jamie CarterAssociative Links NavigationLive Science reporter
Jamie Carter functions as a self-employed journalist and frequent Live Science collaborator, situated in Cardiff, U.K. He penned A Stargazing Program For Beginners and instructs on astronomical science and ecological realms. Jamie consistently contributes to Space.com, TechRadar.com, Forbes Science, BBC Wildlife magazine and Scientific American, plus numerous others. He spearheads WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com.
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