Eagle Nebula’s Pillars of Creation,
NASA, ESA/Hubble and the Hubble Heritage Team. Image viaFor the 25th birthday of the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers at NASA and ESA/Hubble have recaptured the stalagmite-like whirls of interstellar dust of the Eagle Nebula in stunning detail and clarity. Taken with Hubble’s Wild Field Camera 3, the above high quality image shows the nebula's “Pillars of Creation,”—a place where stars are born—as seen in visible light, with twice the resolution of the original image that its predecessor took back in 1995. The second image, below, shows the structures as seen in infrared light, a view that sweeps away the ghostly gas clouds and unveils the baby stars nestled within. With these new visuals, astronomers hope to measure how the pillar's structures have morphed over time, and how efficiently the nebula forms new stars.Below, compare the iconic 1995 Eagle Nebula photo with the modern infrared-light image:Related:These Stellar Galaxies and Nebulas Were Created in the DarkroomSpace Songs: An EP Made Entirely from NASA's Sound Library[Video] Visualizing The Hidden Cosmos | The Making Of "Dark Universe"Dear Extraterrestrials: Sincerely, Earth.
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