Eagle Castle
Explanation:
What lights up this castle of star formation? The familiar
Eagle Nebula glows much like a
neon sign,
but in many colors at once. The
above
photograph is a composite of three of these glowing gas colors.
In particular the glowing red
Sulfur
gas of the nebula nicely outlines some of the
denser
star forming knots. Energetic light from young massive stars
causes the gas to glow and effectively boils away part of the
dust and gas from its birth pillar.
Many of these stars will
explode after several million years,
returning most of their elements back to the nebula which formed them.
This process is forming an
open cluster of stars known as
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.
