Pillars of Creation

The Pillars of Creation are dense columns of gas and dust in the Eagle Nebula, sculpted by radiation and stellar winds and made famous by Hubble images.

Eagle Nebula: A star-forming region in the constellation Serpens, also known as Messier 16. The pillars are structures within this nebula.
Hubble Space Telescope: A space telescope launched in 1990 that observes the universe across ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared wavelengths. Its 1995 image made the pillars widely recognizable.
Interstellar medium: The gas and dust that occupy the space between stars in a galaxy. The pillars are dense structures within the interstellar material of the Eagle Nebula.
Iconic astronomical images: Astronomical images widely recognized beyond the scientific community and associated with particular discoveries or objects. The 1995 image turned a distant nebula structure into a widely shared symbol of star formation.
Photoevaporation: The loss of gas from a surface as energetic radiation heats and disperses it. Radiation from nearby massive stars erodes the pillars’ exposed surfaces.
James Webb Space Telescope: A space observatory designed primarily for infrared astronomy, launched in 2021. Its infrared view reveals stars and structures hidden by dust in the pillars.
Molecular cloud: A cold, dense interstellar cloud composed mainly of molecular hydrogen. Dense molecular gas supplies material for stars forming in and around the columns.
Astronomical imaging: The recording and processing of images of celestial objects using telescopes and detectors. The pillars’ changing appearance across wavelengths shows how instruments shape astronomical depictions.
Stellar wind: A stream of charged particles flowing outward from a star. Winds from young massive stars help sculpt and disperse the surrounding gas.
Hubble Space Telescope's 1995 Pillars of Creation image: A visible-light image of the Eagle Nebula’s gas-and-dust columns, released by NASA in 1995. This image established the pillars as an iconic astronomical subject.

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