From Eagle's EGGs A Star Is Born
Explanation:
Perhaps the most famous astronomical image in recent years reveals
newborn stars upon pillars of gas and dust - uncovered as researchers used
the Hubble Space Telescope to explore
the Eagle Nebula in 1995.
This
stunning picture provides a first hand
glimpse of star birth as
evaporating gaseous globules (EGGs) are captured emerging
from pillars of molecular
hydrogen gas and
dust.
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: Earth Nears Asteroid Toutatis
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.
