M16: Stars Upon Pillars
Credit & Copyright: NASA,
HST, J. Hester & P. Scowen
(ASU)
Explanation:
How do stars form? This
stunning
picture taken recently by the
Hubble Space Telescope gives us a first hand
glimpse. Here evaporating gaseous
globules (EGGs) are captured emerging
from pillars of molecular
hydrogen and
dust in the Eagle Nebula
(
M16).
These pillars, dubbed "elephant trunks," are light years in length and are
so dense that interior gas gravitationally contracts to form
stars.
At each pillars' end, the intense radiation of
bright young stars
causes low density gas to boil away, leaving stellar nurseries of dense
EGGs exposed.
Tomorrow's picture: Eagle EGGs in M16
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
