Astronomy Picture of the Day . ... M16: Infrared Star Hunt . ... The head of an interstellar gas and dust cloud is shown here in false-color, a near-infrared view recorded by astronomers hunting for stars within M16's Eagle Nebula. ... M16: Stars, Pillars and the Eagle s EGGs . ... The Hubble Space Telescope's 1995 image of pillars of dust and gas, light-years long, within the Eagle Nebula (M16) was sensational. The three prominent pillars in that close-up visible light picture also appear.. ...