Hubble’s New View of the ‘Pillars of Creation’

It's not a new sight, in fact it's estimated to be 2 million years old, but with the help of the Hubble Space Telescope astronomers are taking a glimpse at a new view of the "Pillars of Creation" sitting deep within the iconic Eagle Nebula 7,000 light years away.

Known as the nebula Messier 16 (M16), the Eagle Nebula has been known for decades as having some of the most stunning astronomical sightings in the universe. And now, for the 225th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, held this Monday Jan. 5, researchers around the world are seeing yet another reason why, in an image of the "Pillars of Creation" first captured 20 years ago, now in high-definition with sharper and wider views.

"It allows us to demonstrate how far Hubble has come in 25 years of observation" Arizona State University researcher involved in the capturing of the original iconic image, Paul Scowen says. "It really is quite remarkable."

The Pillars of Creation was originally photographed by a team of NASA researchers, and was dubbed its title due to the evident pillars in the image which signify gas and cosmic dust that are in the process of forming new stars. The far off Eagle Nebula is home to the pillars, and while the images may misrepresent the true vastness of these pillars, even the smallest of its finger-like protrusions of the clouds are larger than our solar system itself.

Improving Hubble Space Telescope over the past 25 years, researchers were able to capture the new-and-improved image thanks to upgrades made since the first image was taken in 1995. Utilizing the Hubble's new Wide Field Camera 3, installed in 2009, the team of astronomers with the ESA's current Hubble team was able to capture an even sharper image without all the cosmic dust and gas by revealing the Eagle Nebula in the infrared wavelength. Using this method, the astronomers were able to reveal significantly more stars, as well as, truly highlight the colors which reveal ionizing suffer, oxygen and hydrogen around the numerous stars.

Scowen says "The pillars themselves have become quite transparent in the infrared."