DMAJOR: A JWST Legacy Survey of Protoplanetary Disks
Authors: Benjamin Pope, Yinuo Han, Sean Andrews, Kateryna Andrych, Phil Armitage, William Balmer, Myriam Benisty, Faustine Cantalloube, Max Charles, Ilse Cleeves, Ian Czekala, Louis Desdoigts, Ruobing Dong, Rodrigo Ferrer-Chavez, Katherine Follette, Christian Ginski, Jonah Goldfine, Hayden Greer, Cassandra Hall, Sasha Hinkley, Haochang Jiang, Devika Kamath, Jens Kammerer, Matthew Kenworthy, Milo Langker, Kellen Lawson, Nienke van der Marel, Sebastián Marino, Maksym Mohorian, Christophe Pinte, Daniel Price, Laurent Pueyo, Shrishmoy Ray, Nour Skaf, Floris van der Tak, Peter Tuthill, Miguel Vioque, Jason Wang, Shangjia Zhang
Abstract
We propose an infrared imaging survey of resolved protoplanetary disks spanning a range of galactic environments, directly mapping the 3D structure of planet-forming disks across the IR. DMAJOR (Disk Motions and Architectures JWST Observational Reference survey), our legacy survey, will deliver a benchmark sample to reveal structure and connection to environment. The exquisite stability of JWST allows us to probe for variability with a time-scheduled revisit strategy, while its sensitivity and resolution open a window on disks unobservable from the ground. A uniform sample will reveal how small grains and ice are distributed in protoplanetary disks, how scattered light structures relate to large-scale environmental features, and identify new companions. To achieve this, DMAJOR takes advantage of model-based data analysis using telemetry and mutual calibration to enhance processed data products while minimizing telescope overheads.
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JWST Imaging of Edge-on Protoplanetary Disks. V. Flux Ratio Reversal and Disk-edge Structure in the Flying SaucerJie Ma, Karl R. Stapelfeldt, Marion Villenave et al. · 2026 · Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · AI summary available
The Flying Saucer study uses JWST infrared imaging to examine the structure and dust properties of an individual protoplanetary disk.
In short
JWST reveals near-infrared brightness reversal and bright disk-edge linings in the Flying Saucer, consistent with inner-disk misalignment, forward scattering, and substantial dust growth.
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Mid-infrared Imaging of SR 12 c with JWST/MIRI: Grain Growth in an Evolved Circumplanetary DiskYa-Lin Wu, Claire O. Finley, Brendan P. Bowler et al. · 2026 · Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · AI summary available
The SR 12 c study uses JWST/MIRI to characterize dust in a circumplanetary disk, rather than surveying protoplanetary disks.
Abstract
The physical properties of circumplanetary disks offer insights into the formation of giant planets and their satellites. The circumbinary planetary-mass companion SR 12 c (1200 au from SR 12 AB) hosts an isolated dust disk directly detected with ALMA. We present JWST/MIRI imaging of SR 12 c from 5.6 to 21 $μ$m and analyze its spectral energy distribution from infrared to submillimeter wavelengths. Phenomenologically, the dust disk can be described by a two-component blackbody with large contrasts in characteristic temperatures and radii. Physically motivated models with varied geometries and heating mechanisms suggest a predominantly flat, irradiation-heated disk with a smaller contribution…
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JWST Imaging of Edge-on Protoplanetary Disks. IV. Mid-infrared Dust Scattering in the HH 30 diskRyo Tazaki, François Ménard, Gaspard Duchêne et al. · 2024 · Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · cited 12 times · AI summary available
The HH 30 study uses JWST infrared images to map grain segregation and structure in a protoplanetary disk.
Abstract
We present near- and mid-infrared (IR) broadband imaging observations of the edge-on protoplanetary disk around HH 30 with the James Webb Space Telescope/Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). We combine these observations with archival optical/near-IR scattered light images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and a millimeter-wavelength dust continuum image obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) with the highest spatial resolution ever obtained for this target. Our multiwavelength images clearly reveal the vertical and radial segregation of micron-sized and sub-mm-sized grains in the disk. In the near- and mid-IR, the …
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Time-resolved protoplanetary disk physics in DQ Tau with JWSTÁ. Kóspál, P. Ábrahám, V. V. Akimkin et al. · 2025 · A&A 703, A20 (2025) · cited 2 times · AI summary available
The DQ Tau study uses repeated JWST observations to investigate disk variability, applying time-resolved infrared observations to one system.
Abstract
Accretion variability is ubiquitous in YSOs. While large outbursts may strongly affect the disk, the effects of moderate bursts are less understood. We aim to study the physical response of the disk around the eccentric binary system DQ Tau to its periodic accretion changes. We organized a multi-wavelength campaign centered on four JWST/MIRI spectra. We targeted three periastrons (high accretion state) and one apastron (quiescence). We used optical and near-infrared spectroscopy and photometry to measure how the accretion luminosity varies. We decomposed the multi-epoch SEDs into stellar, accretion, and rim components. We fitted the solid-state features using various opacity curves and the m…
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JWST-TST High Contrast: Medium-resolution spectroscopy reveals a carbon-rich circumplanetary disk around the young accreting exoplanet Delorme 1 AB bMathilde Mâlin, Kimberly Ward-Duong, Sierra L. Grant et al. · 2025 · Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · cited 6 times · AI summary available
The Delorme 1 AB b study uses JWST/MIRI to investigate circumplanetary material around a young planetary-mass companion.
Abstract
Young accreting planetary-mass objects are thought to draw material from a circumplanetary disk (CPD) composed of gas and dust. While the gas within the disk is expected to disperse within the first million years, strong accretion has nonetheless been detected in older systems, including the 30--45 Myr-old planetary-mass companion Delorme 1 AB b. We conducted spectroscopic observations with JWST/MIRI to investigate the presence of circumplanetary material around this young, accreting planet, and to characterize the planet's atmospheric properties and composition. We perform forward modeling using atmospheric models to characterize the planet's atmosphere. Beyond 10 microns, the SED becomes d…
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An HST/STIS View of Protoplanetary Disks in Upper Scorpius: Observations of Three Young M-StarsSamuel Walker, Maxwell Millar-Blanchaer, Bin Ren et al. · 2021 · Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · cited 2 times · AI summary available
The Upper Scorpius study images protoplanetary disks in scattered light, addressing disk structure with HST rather than JWST.
Abstract
We present observations of three protoplanetary disks in visible scattered light around M-type stars in the Upper Scorpius OB association using the STIS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. The disks around stars 2MASS J16090075-1908526, 2MASS J16142029-1906481 and 2MASS J16123916-1859284 have all been previously detected with ALMA, and 2MASS J16123916-1859284 has never previously been imaged at scattered light wavelengths. We process our images using Reference Differential Imaging, comparing and contrasting three reduction techniques - classical subtraction, Karhunen-Loeve Image Projection and Non-Negative Matrix Factorisation, selecting the classical method as the most reliable of the…
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Extreme Debris Disks: Insights into Violent Collisions in Planet Formation and DestructionKate Y. L. Su, Attila Moor, Agnes Kospal et al. · 2026 · Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · cited 1 time · AI summary available
The extreme debris disk study uses infrared observations to examine small-grain properties in mature systems, not planet-forming disks.
Abstract
Debris disks are dusty structures around mature stars, primarily identified by infrared excesses in the stellar spectra. A subset, known as extreme debris disks (EDDs), exhibits stochastic infrared variability, believed to result from large-scale violent collisions that contribute to the formation or destruction of rocky planetary bodies. We analyze JWST and Spitzer mid-infrared spectra for 21 EDDs to investigate the connection between impact-produced dust mineralogy and the age and dynamical state of these systems during various stages of planet formation and evolution. Our findings indicate that EDDs contain significantly more optically thin, small dust grains compared to those typically s…
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The environments forming stellar and planetary systemsMichael Kuffmeier, Jaime E. Pineda, Peter Schilke et al. · 2026 · Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · AI summary available
The environments study asks how stellar birth environments shape planet-forming disks and systems, a broader question related to DMAJOR's environmental comparisons.
Abstract
How does a star's birth environment set the mass, angular momentum and chemical complexity delivered to its planet-forming disk, and thereby whether it builds planets, brown dwarfs or stellar companions? This requires following material from the cloud to the sub-au to few-au scales where infalling gas, magnetized winds and the disk interact, across all star-forming environments. At frequencies where young disks are optically thin, current facilities, even ALMA after its Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade, fall short by a factor of a few in angular resolution and an order of magnitude in sensitivity. Likewise, resolving how disks around distant high-mass stars fragment into tight multiples requires…
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Updated on 10 November 2026.