NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured a fresh, detailed view of the majestic ‘Pillars of Creation’ – towering tendrils of dust and gas in the Eagle Nebula. The permeable columns, which look like solid rock formations, are made of interstellar gas and occasionally appear translucent in near-infrared light, NASA wrote in revealing the photos.
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One of Hubble’s most iconic shots now has an additional companion from our friend @NASAWebb! This region of star formation is known as the Pillars of Creation and shows a small area of the Eagle Nebula. pic.twitter.com/3FMoH0ro0P — Hubble (@NASAHubble) October 19, 2022
What are the Pillars of Creation? Explained in 5 points
•An active star forming region – they are part of the ‘Eagle Nebula’ located 6500 light years away in the constellation Serpents. These fascinating pillars are located at the heart of a nebula (a cloud of gas and dust in space), which itself spans 70 x 55 light years.
•These pillars are made of molecular hydrogen gas and dust and were first captured in 1995 by the Hubble Space Telescope. The new, detailed view will help scientists accurately count the newly formed stars, as well as the amount of gas and dust present there, NASA reported.
•As stars form, NASA explains that turbulence within these clouds creates high-density regions called nodes. Once these nodes with enough mass form in the cloud, they begin to collapse under their own gravity and form new stars. It also described the squiggles on the edge of some of the pillars as throwaways. They act like supersonic jets – they come from stars that are still forming and crash into the pillars.
•The blue color in the picture indicates oxygen, while red sulfur and green nitrogen and hydrogen. Young stars placed outside the frame illuminate the columns and create dramatic visual effects that emphasize the 3D nature of the clouds. However, the winds from these stars gradually erode the columns.
•Yet these clouds were able to survive the enormous ultraviolet light coming from all the hot, massive newborn stars. First discovered in 1745 by Swiss astronomer Jean-Philippe Loys de Chéseaux, the nebula can actually be seen with binoculars under optimal conditions. The month of July has been found to be the best time to view it.
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