Stella Marvels
September 30th 2007 07:13
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A close look at the "pilars of creation"
One image in particular that still has the WOW factor taken by the Hubble telescope of 'The Eagle Nebula photographed by NASAs Hubble Space Telescope this image taken 1995 continues to fascinate us mere mortals. The image features three iconic space pillars each are millions of kilometers in length where dubbed the 'Pillars of Creation'. This marvel of dust and birthplace of stars may exist no longer, in essence we are looking into a vast time machine recording events that have long since disappeared millennia ago.
Mosaic look at the Eagle Nebula
New images taken by NASA Spitzer spacecraft shows the intact dust towers next to a giant cloud of hot dust thought to have been scorched by the blast of an exploding star . Astronomers speculate that the supernova's shock wave could have already reached the dusty towers, causing them to topple about 6,000 years ago.
M16 HStar birth- Image Hubble telescope
The Eagle Nebula, is a vast and stormy community of stars set amid clouds and steep pillars made of stella gas and dust. The three well known 'Pillars of Creation can be described as a star making factory located 7,000 light years away in the Serpens constellation.
Astronomers predicted some time ago that a supernova blast wave would mean the end for the popular pillars. The region is littered with 20 or so stars that are ready to explode, so it was only a matter of time before one would explode.
A closer look at the tip of one of the pillars without colour filtration
When the pillars eventually crumble new stars will be formed and as the dust settles we may see other stars behind the gas clouds emerging. The colours in these images are captures by filters that record the various light wavelengths and in doing so we can see the expanse of red which had been caused by the warming up of the surrounding dust clouds. It is likely that our Sun was born under similar circumstances.
Overall look at the sella region taken by Anglo-Australian Observatory photo D.Malin
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