High-resolution near-infrared images and models of the circumstellar disk in HH 30

We present Hubble Space Telescope near-infrared camera and multiobject spec trometer observations of the reflection nebulosity associated with the T Ta uri star HH 30. The images show the scattered-light pattern characteristic of a highly inclined, optically thick disk with a prominent dust lane whose width decreases with increasing wavelength. The reflected nebulosity exhib its a lateral asymmetry in the upper lobe on the opposite side to that repo rted in previously published Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 images. The radi ation transfer model that most closely reproduces the data has a flared acc retion disk with dust grains larger than standard interstellar medium grain s by a factor of approximately 2.1. A single hot spot on the stellar surfac e provides the necessary asymmetry to fit the images and is consistent with previous modeling of the light curve and images. Photometric analysis resu lts in an estimated extinction of A(V) greater than or similar to 80; howev er, since the photometry measures only scattered light rather than direct s tellar flux, this a lower limit. The radiative transfer models require an e xtinction of A(V) = 7900.