Cold Dust in the Eagle Nebula
Explanation:
Stars are born in
M16's Eagle
Nebula, a stellar nursery 7,000 light-years from Earth
toward the constellation
Serpens.
The striking nebula's
star forming pillars of gas and dust are
familiar to astronomers
from images at visible wavelengths, but
this false-color picture
shows off the nebula in
infrared light.
Data from ESA's
Infrared Space Observatory
satellite (ISO) was used to construct the detailed
two
color image, dominated by infrared emission from
clouds of interstellar material at temperatures below -100
degrees Celsius.
Blue colors highlight emission thought to indicate the presence of
complex
carbon molecules, known on planet Earth
as PAHs, while
red colors trace emission from cold, microscopic
dust grains.
Hot young stars are formed as this frigid material condenses under the
influence
of gravity.
Once begun,
the process takes only tens of thousands of years for
truly massive stars and up to tens of millions of years for low mass
stars like the Sun.
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.
