Pillars of Creation
Nebula · Eagle Nebula (M16)
The Pillars of Creation are towering columns of cold gas and dust inside the Eagle Nebula. Inside them, new stars are forming, while intense light from nearby young stars slowly erodes them away.
- 6,500 light-years awayEven light – the fastest thing there is – needs 6,500 years to get here.
- About 4–5 light-yearsHeight
- The Eagle NebulaIn
Take a closer look
Eggs at the fingertips
Along the tips of the pillars are small dark knobs that scientists call EGGs – evaporating gaseous globules. Each is a dense lump of gas, and some may hold a baby star. As the surrounding gas is stripped away, these eggs are slowly uncovered.
The sculptors nearby
Just outside the picture lies a cluster of young, very hot stars. Their fierce light and winds blow away the thinner gas, like wind wearing down a sandcastle. Only the densest parts survive – which is why the pillars are long columns with thick tips.
A picture from the past
Light from the pillars takes about 6,500 years to reach us. So the view in every photo shows them as they were around the time people were building some of the very first towns. Whatever they look like today, we won’t see it for thousands of years.
How we found out
- 1745–46
Philippe Loys de Chéseaux discovers the star cluster in the Eagle Nebula.
- 1995
Hubble takes the famous image of the Pillars – one of the most iconic science photos ever.
- 2014
Hubble photographs them again in sharper detail.
- 2022
The James Webb Space Telescope captures them in infrared, revealing newborn stars hidden inside.
Why do Hubble and Webb pictures of the same place look different?
Hubble sees mostly visible light; Webb sees infrared light, which passes through dust – so it can peek inside the clouds.
See it yourself
The Eagle Nebula is visible in a small telescope; the pillars themselves need photographs.
From the encyclopedia
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