American NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured a lush, detailed view of the majestic ‘Pillars of Creation’ – the towering tendrils of dust and gas within the Eagle Nebula. 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.
What are the Pillars of Creation? Explained in 5 points
An active star-forming region – they are part of ‘Eagle Nebula’ located 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Serpens. These fascinating pillars are located at the heart of Nebula (cloud of gas and dust in outer space) which in itself spans 70 by 55 light-years.
These pillars are made of molecular hydrogen gas and dust and were first captured in 1995 by the Hubble Space Telescope. The new detailed view will help the scientists to make precise counts of newly formed stars as well as the quantity of gas and dust present there, NASA informed.
On the formation of stars, NASA explains that turbulence within these clouds creates high-density regions called – knots. 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. Acting like supersonic jets – they come from the stars still forming and collide with the pillars.
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The blue colour in the image indicates oxygen, while red sulphur and green nitrogen and hydrogen. The young stars located outside the frame illuminate the columns, giving dramatic visual effects which highlight the 3-D nature of the clouds. However, the winds from these stars are gradually eroding the pillars.
Still, these clouds have been able to survive the enormous ultraviolet light coming from all the hot, massive newborn stars. The Nebula – first discovered in 1745 by a Swiss astronomer Jean-Philippe Loys de Chéseaux – can actually be spotted through telescopes under optimal conditions. The month of July has been found to be the best time to view it.
