M16: Pillars of Star Creation
Explanation:
These dark pillars may look destructive, but they are creating stars.
This pillar-capturing image of the inside of the Eagle Nebula,
taken with the
Hubble Space Telescope
in 1995, shows evaporating gaseous globules (EGGs)
emerging from pillars of molecular
hydrogen gas and
dust.
The
giant pillars are
light years in length
and are so dense that interior gas
contracts gravitationally to form
stars.
At each
pillars' end,
the intense radiation of bright young stars
causes low density material to boil away, leaving
stellar nurseries of dense
EGGs exposed.
The Eagle Nebula, associated with the
open star cluster
M16, lies about 7000
light years away.
The pillars of creation have been imaged more recently in
infrared light by
Hubble,
NASA's
Spitzer Space Telescope, and
ESA's
Herschel Space Observatory --
showing new
detail.
Be Honest:
Have you seen this image before?
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.
