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Stellar - Public domain drawing

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Summary

(April 1, 1995) This eerie, dark structure, resembling an imaginary sea serpent's head, is a column of cool molecular hydrogen gas (two atoms of hydrogen in each molecule) and dust that is an incubator for new stars. The stars are embedded inside finger-like protrusions extending from the top of the nebula. Each "fingertip" is somewhat larger than our own solar system. The pillar is slowly eroding away by the ultraviolet light from nearby hot stars, a process called "photoevaporation." As it does, small globules of especially dense gas buried within the cloud is uncovered. These globules have been dubbed "EGGs" -- an acronym for "Evaporating Gaseous Globules." The shadows of the EGGs protect gas behind them, resulting in the finger-like structures at the top of the cloud. Forming inside at least some of the EGGs are embryonic stars -- stars that abruptly stop growing when the EGGs are uncovered and they are separated from the larger reservoir of gas from which they were drawing mass. Eventually the stars emerge, as the EGGs themselves succumb to photoevaporation. The stellar EGGS are found, appropriately enough, in the "Eagle Nebula" (also called M16 -- the 16th object in Charles Messier's 18th century catalog of "fuzzy" permanent objects in the sky), a nearby star-forming region 7,000 light-years away in the constellation Serpens. The picture was taken on April 1, 1995 with the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. The color image is constructed from three separate images taken in the light of emission from different types of atoms. Red shows emission from singly-ionized sulfur atoms. Green shows emission from hydrogen. Blue shows light emitted by doubly-ionized oxygen atoms. ..Image # : PR95-44D

NASA Photo Collection

The Pillars of Creation are a famous astronomical feature located in the Eagle Nebula, a cloud of interstellar gas and dust in the constellation Serpens. The Pillars of Creation are massive pillars of gas and dust that are thought to be the site of ongoing star formation. The Pillars of Creation were first observed and photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995, and the image quickly became iconic. The Pillars of Creation are considered a stunning example of the beauty and complexity of the universe, and they continue to be studied by astronomers today. The three-dimensional pillars look like majestic rock formations but are far more permeable. These columns are made up of cool interstellar gas and dust that appear – at times – semi-transparent in near-infrared light. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured a lush, highly detailed landscape – the iconic Pillars of Creation – where new stars are forming within dense clouds of gas and dust. Webb’s new view of the Pillars of Creation, which were first made famous when imaged by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in 1995, will help researchers revamp their models of star formation by identifying far more precise counts of newly formed stars, along with the quantities of gas and dust in the region. Over time, they will begin to build a clearer understanding of how stars form and burst out of these dusty clouds over millions of years.

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hubble space telescope hst nebula evaporating gaseous globules egg m 16 constellation serpens wide field planetary camera wfpc fingers pillars of creation stars eggs gas light emission hydrogen globules images hydrogen gas photoevaporation cloud object hubble space telescope wide field finger like structures two atoms sulfur atoms gaseous globules color image atoms finger like protrusions eagle nebula 18th century space nasa
date_range

Date

2000 - 2020
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in collections

NASA

NASA Photo Collection

Pillars of Creation

The Pillars of Creation images by NASA’s Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes
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NASA
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https://www.flickr.com/
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label_outline Explore Serpens, Globules, Hydrogen Gas

Topics

hubble space telescope hst nebula evaporating gaseous globules egg m 16 constellation serpens wide field planetary camera wfpc fingers pillars of creation stars eggs gas light emission hydrogen globules images hydrogen gas photoevaporation cloud object hubble space telescope wide field finger like structures two atoms sulfur atoms gaseous globules color image atoms finger like protrusions eagle nebula 18th century space nasa