                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2022 October 20

                             Pillars of Creation
            Image Credit: Science - NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, NIRCam
     Processing - Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI),
                            Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

   Explanation: A now famous picture from the Hubble Space Telescope
   featured these star forming columns of cold gas and dust light-years
   long inside M16, the Eagle Nebula, dubbed the Pillars of Creation. This
   James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam image expands Hubble's exploration of
   that region in greater detail and depth inside the iconic stellar
   nursery. Particularly stunning in Webb's near infrared view is the
   telltale reddish emission from knots of material undergoing
   gravitational collapse to form stars within the natal clouds. The Eagle
   Nebula is some 6,500 light-years distant. The larger bright emission
   nebula is itself an easy target for binoculars or small telescopes. M16
   lies along the plane of our Milky Way galaxy in a nebula rich part of
   the sky, toward the split constellation Serpens Cauda (the tail of the
   snake).

               Tomorrow's picture: andromeda in southern skies
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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