Pillars of Creation

The Pillars of Creation are iconic, dense clouds of gas and dust in which new stars form, and they first became popularised when NASA's Hubble Space Telescope ...

This is most evident in the second and third pillars from the top, with these young stars estimated only to be a few hundred thousand years old. The columns are comprised of cool interstellar gas and dust that sometimes appear semi-transparent in near-infrared light. The telescope has now attained the most detailed image to date of the Pillars of Creation. When knots with significant enough mass form within the gas and dust pillars, they start to collapse under their own gravity, become hotter, and ultimately form new stars. Now, using the advanced instruments of the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists can observe its lush landscape in highly-precise detail. This data will further our understanding of how stars form and burst out of these dusty clouds over millions of years.

UNITED STATES: The iconic Pillars of Creation, where new stars are forming beneath dense clouds of gas and dust, have been imaged by NASA's James Webb Space ...

However, JWST’s image of the Pillars of Creation reveals fresh information and is much more potent than any of these sensors. The picture was first recorded by Hubble in 1995, and it was revisited in 2014. In addition to the pillars’ breathtaking beauty, astronomers have been eager to see them from the JWST’s perspective because of the activity they harbor.

A new image captured by the James Webb Space Telescope gives a new glimpse at the iconic Pillars of Creation, an area 6500 light-years away that was made ...

Young stars periodically shoot out jets that can interact within clouds of material, like these thick pillars of gas and dust,” according to a “Along the edges of the pillars are wavy lines that look like lava. The ESA William Herschel Telescope, for example, has also captured an image of the distinctive area of star birth, and Hubble created its own followup image in 2014. “Newly formed protostars are the scene-stealers,” reads a news release from the European Space Agency. [ Mars,](http://cnn.com/2022/09/19/world/webb-telescope-mars-image-scn/index.html) [Jupiter](http://cnn.com/2022/08/22/world/jupiter-images-webb-telescope-nasa-scn/index.html) and [Neptune](http://www.cnn.com/2022/09/21/world/neptune-james-webb-space-telescope-new-images-scn/index.html). [ through some of the dusty plumes](https://esawebb.org/images/weic2216d/) to reveal more infant stars that glow bright red.

First imaged in 1995, this iconic kaleidoscope of color is part of the Eagle Nebula.

[Christmas Day 2021](https://www.popsci.com/space/james-webb-space-telescope-launch/), the JWST is an international partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). [NASA writes in a recent release](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-takes-star-filled-portrait-of-pillars-of-creation). The young stars in this image are estimated to be only a few hundred thousand years old, which is young compared to stars like the [red giant Betelgeuse](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/hubble-sees-red-supergiant-star-betelgeuse-slowly-recovering-after-blowing-its-top), aged about 10 million years-old, and Methusula, the oldest star in the universe at a ripe [16 billion years old](https://futurism.com/star-thats-older-universe). There aren’t any galaxies present in this view of the Pillars. [NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)](https://webb.nasa.gov/) has captured an image of one of space’s most iconic images—the Pillars of Creation. The wavy lava-looking lines are are ejections from the stars that are still forming within the dust and gas. The crimson glow comes from the energetic hydrogen molecules that result from jets and shocks,” The goal over time is to build a more clear understanding the dusty clouds and the stars that burst from them. The young up-and-coming stars in this image are shown as bright red orbs, usually with diffraction spikes. “When knots with sufficient mass form within the pillars of gas and dust, they begin to collapse under their own gravity, slowly heat up, and eventually form new stars,” Aside from being exceptionally beautiful, the new JWST image will help researchers identify more precise counts of newly formed stars within the nebula, as well as how much gas and dust is in the region. This part of the Eagle Nebula roughly 6,500 light years away from Earth is where new stars are forming within dense clouds of dust and gas.

NASA published this astoundingly detailed image of the Pillars of Creation, the Eagle Nebula as seen from our own perch in the stars. The pic embedded here ...

The crimson glow comes from the energetic hydrogen molecules that result from jets and shocks. These are ejections from stars that are still forming within the gas and dust. These are the bright red orbs that typically have diffraction spikes and lie outside one of the dusty pillars.

The James Webb Space Telescope has captured NASA's most detailed image of the Pillars of Creation that is helping scientists better understand how stars ...

[Klaus Pontoppidan,](https://www.stsci.edu/~pontoppi/#about) a project scientist working on the James Webb, [wrote](https://twitter.com/pontoppi/status/1582745751318253569) on Twitter that the team wanted to capture the Pillars of Creation using the new space telescope after seeing popular demand for it. "This image was taken in exactly the same way as the cosmic cliffs, and covers an area the same size on the sky." "The nebula, M16, is located right in the plane of the Milky Way; there are just so many stars!" Now, the new James Webb Space Telescope has captured NASA's most detailed image of the landscape that is helping scientists better understand how stars form. [ optimized to see near- and mid-infrared light](https://www.npr.org/2021/09/16/1036600340/nasa-is-launching-a-new-telescope-that-could-offer-some-cosmic-eye-candy) invisible to people, allowing it to peer through dust that can obscure stars and other objects in Hubble images. While James Webb's infrared eyes were [not able to pierce through](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-takes-star-filled-portrait-of-pillars-of-creation) a mix of gas and dust in the Pillars of Creation, its new view will help scientists identify more precise counts of newly formed stars, and the amount of gas and dust in the region.

The "Pillars of Creation," an area of intense star formation, as seen by the Near-Infrared Camera of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI. NASA's most eagle-eyed observatory yet has ...

This region of the universe first achieved fame in 1995 when it was imaged by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Don't confuse these with the deep red, magma-like areas along the inside perimeter of a few of the pillars. The ethereal scene captures translucent columns of cool interstellar gas and dust punctuated by piercing, bright points of light.

The haunting, finger-like shapes are part of the Eagle Nebula, a vast star-forming region located some 6500 light-years away.

But it wasn’t until [1995](https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/1995/44/351-Image.html), when the [Hubble Space Telescope](https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html) photographed the nebula’s awe-inspiring, finger-like section and shared it with the masses, that the Pillars of Creation became famous. Bright red orbs floating within the mass of gas and dust, meanwhile, pinpoint the locations of newly born stars (the space agency [recommends zooming in](https://twitter.com/NASAWebb/status/1582736013155246081?s=20&t=_FfolTzBaBRb8X8MYbEu_g) to see them). The region is “practically overflowing with stars,” per NASA, and Webb’s new image will help scientists get a more accurate count of those that have recently formed. [Near-Infrared Camera](https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/observatory/instruments/nircam.html) (NIRCam), shows the Pillars of Creation in strikingly crisp detail. [stars](https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/how-do-stars-form-and-evolve) sparkle against the deep blackish-blue backdrop of space. [Jean-Philippe Loys de Cheseaux](https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/jean-philippe-loys-de-cheseaux/m02rb43?hl=en) first discovered the Eagle Nebula in 1745. Periodically, those young stars discharge jets that collide with the pillars’ dust and gas, creating wavy But finally, the James Webb Space Telescope has turned its attention toward one of the most iconic celestial bodies in the universe: the Pillars of Creation. The Pillars of Creation region, meanwhile, measures roughly 5 light-years long. [spooky spiral galaxies](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-the-eerily-beautiful-image-james-webb-captured-of-a-spiral-galaxy-180980853/), the rings and moons of [Neptune](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/webb-telescopes-images-of-neptune-showcase-its-rings-and-moons-180980820/) and the creepy-crawly [Tarantula Nebula](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/james-webb-space-telescope-snaps-spectacular-new-photos-of-the-tarantula-nebula-180980716/). [Gizmodo](https://gizmodo.com/webb-telescope-pillars-of-creation-1849676900), Webb’s capture makes it easy to see “Michelangelo’s famous Creation of Adam evoked by the reach of the massive pillars.” The dust-filled plumes are a rusty orange-brown, like “arches and spires rising out of a desert landscape,” wrote [NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-takes-star-filled-portrait-of-pillars-of-creation), which is collaborating with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) on the Webb project.

The James Webb Space Telescope returns a dazzling new look at an iconic place in space.

NASA describes the new picture as “lush” and “majestic,” and it surely earns those adjectives. Those pulses of energy form the cosmic equivalent of bow shocks, similar to the waves produced by a boat as it plows through a body of water. Those stars appear as scarlet dots and smudges within the body of the pillars. It is pointed to as eye-popping proof that when it comes to telescopes, the world of science and the world of art can sometimes be hard to distinguish. Hubble’s image of the Pillars of Creation was captured in visible light, while Webb’s was taken in the infrared—revealing fresh details in the nebula that were seen less crisply before. Few people were paying much attention to the doings at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) on the campus of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore on April 1, 1995.

The James Webb Space Telescope captured a highly detailed snapshot of the so-called Pillars of Creation, a vista of three looming towers made of ...

The ESA William Herschel Telescope, for example, has also captured an image of the distinctive area of star birth, and Hubble created its own followup image in 2014. Young stars periodically shoot out jets that can interact within clouds of material, like these thick pillars of gas and dust," according to a news release. "When knots with sufficient mass form within the pillars of gas and dust, they begin to collapse under their own gravity, slowly heat up, and eventually form new stars."

According to NASA, the image is set within the vast Eagle Nebula, which lies 6500 light years away from Earth.

Scientists are hopeful it will herald a new era of discovery. Another main research focus is on exoplanets, planets outside Earth’s solar system. [What will the James Webb telescope show us?](/program/inside-story/2022/7/15/what-will-james-webb-show-us) [NASA telescope captures ‘incredible’ images of Jupiter](/news/2022/8/23/nasas-james-webb-telescope-shows-unprecedented-jupiter-views)

The pillars are made up of cool interstellar gas and dust where new stars form.

It showed the “What about those wavy lines that look like lava at the edges of some pillars? [Hubble Space Telescope](https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/2022/07/16/james-webb-space-telescope-takes-a-striking-image-of-jupiter/), which spotted GN-z11, a galaxy that was formed 400 million years after the birth of the universe. [James Webb Space Telescope](https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/2022/07/13/james-webb-space-telescope-will-transform-our-understanding-of-the-universe/) shows the “Pillars of Creation” in remarkable detail. This star-forming region is known as the Pillars of Creation, and shows a small region of the Eagle Nebula. [space](https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/science/2022/08/23/james-webb-telescope-captures-remarkable-views-of-jupiter/) also shows new stars forming within these dense clouds of gas and dust.

An active star-forming region within 'Eagle Nebula', these pillars are made of molecular hydrogen gas and dust and were first captured in 1995 by the Hubble ...

The young stars located outside the frame illuminate the columns, giving dramatic visual effects which highlight the 3-D nature of the clouds. Still, these clouds have been able to survive the enormous ultraviolet light coming from all the hot, massive newborn stars. The permeable pillars which look like solid rock formations are made of interstellar gases and occasionally appear semi-transparent in near-infrared light, NASA wrote unveiling the photos. Once formed, these knots containing sufficient mass within the cloud, begin to collapse under their own gravity, creating new stars. It also described the wavy lines at the edge of some pillars as ejections. These pillars are made of molecular hydrogen gas and dust and were first captured in 1995 by the

Legendary for their beauty, the towering pillars of gas and dust are a nursery of newborn stars that's been slowly destroying itself for millions of years.

But beyond the surface-level beauty, the image also reveals a hidden multitude of never-before-seen, newly-formed stars in and around the gas clouds. Located in the Eagle Nebula about 6,500 light-years from Earth, the pillars became world famous in 1995 after the Hubble Space Telescope first revealed their beauty. [NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-takes-star-filled-portrait-of-pillars-of-creation) and the [European Space Agency](https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Webb/Webb_takes_a_stunning_star-filled_portrait_of_the_Pillars_of_Creation) on Oct.

The new view will help researchers revamp their models of star formation by identifying far more precise counts of newly formed stars, along with the ...

Nearly two decades in the making under contract for NASA by aerospace giant Northrop Grumman Corp, the $9 billion Webb infrared telescope was launched to space on Dec. [lava](https://indianexpress.com/about/lava/) at the edge of some pillars are ejections of matter from stars still forming within the gas and dust and are estimated to be only a few hundred-thousand years old, the U.S. The spellbinding images show vast, towering columns of dense clouds of gas and dust where young stars are forming in a region of the Eagle Nebula, in the Serpens constellation, some 6,500 light-years from Earth.

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released new images of an iconic part of the galaxy. The space organisation's James Webb Space ...

Barely thousands of years old, their infrared glow is captured by the JWST, allowing astronomers to peer through the dust clouds that surround the stars. Smaller red orbs around the edges of the pillars are infant stars. The Pillars of Creations were first captured by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1994 and have become some of the most iconic space images to be ever captured. The pillars ‘stand out’ of the nebula like grand spires out of the churning ocean. About 9,461,000,000,000 (9.4 trillion) km or around 6500 light years away from our planet, the Eagle or Star Queen Nebula is a cluster of gas and dust. The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released new images of an iconic part of the galaxy.