NASA has released a new image of the famed “Pillars of Creation,” and it is a show-stopper.
The Hubble Space Telescope took the first image of the Pillars of Creation, which is located 5,700 light-years away in the Eagle Nebula, in 1995. Thanks to subsequent editions that have been released over the years, it has become one of the most iconic images in astronomy.
The violent tendrils, composed mostly of gas and dust, are home to a celestial nursery. Tiny twinkling stars peek out of the pillars’ center—and notably at the top of each pillar—in this newly released infrared image from April 6. While the structure of the pillars have always been illuminated, this time, it’s the newly formed stars that are taking center stage. The longer wavelengths of infrared light slide between particles, piercing all but the densest plumes of gas and dust inside the pillars, to reveal a sparkling kaleidoscope of stars within.
Read more: Popular Mechanics
