Today’s Image of the Day from the European Space Agency features the Eagle Nebula, also known as Messier 16, which is located about 7,000 light-years away in the constellation Serpens.

The Eagle Nebula is one of the most iconic star-forming regions in our galaxy. It’s a vast cloud of gas and dust stretching roughly 70 light-years across. 

Pillars of Creation 

What makes it especially famous is a portion of the nebula captured by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995 – an area called the “Pillars of Creation.” 

Some of these towering columns of gas are several light-years tall. The towers resemble sculpted fingers reaching out into space. Inside these pillars, new stars are being born as gravity pulls material together into dense cores that eventually ignite nuclear fusion.

The Pillars of Creation are often cited as a poetic example of the cosmic cycle of birth and destruction – where new stars are born even as the surrounding material is slowly destroyed by radiation.

Hubble image of the Eagle Nebula 

“This towering structure of billowing gas and dark, obscuring dust might only be a small portion of the Eagle Nebula, but it is no less majestic in appearance for it,” said ESA.

“The new Hubble image is part of ESA/Hubble’s 35th anniversary celebrations. The cosmic cloud shown here is made of cold hydrogen gas, like the rest of the Eagle Nebula. In such regions of space new stars are born among the collapsing clouds.” 

The hot, energetic stars emit intense ultraviolet light and powerful stellar winds that erode and sculpt the surrounding gas. The result is the creation of fantastical structures – like the narrow pillar with a blossoming head featured in the new image.

Light and shadow in the Eagle Nebula

The thick material in the pillar blocks most light, appearing dark and heavy against the backdrop. However, its edges glow where light from the more distant nebula shines through. 

The striking colors reflect the chemistry and physics at play: blues signal ionized oxygen, reds indicate glowing hydrogen, and orange shows where starlight has managed to pierce the dust.

A structure under siege

Just out of frame lie the very stars responsible for shaping this dramatic pillar. Their radiation and winds continue to batter the cloud, compressing the gas and potentially triggering the birth of even more stars within.

For now, the pillar holds firm, but this stability is temporary. Over time, the relentless energy from newly formed stars will eventually erode the entire structure.

“While the starry pillar has withstood these forces well so far, cutting an impressive shape against the background, eventually it will be totally eroded by the multitude of new stars that form in the Eagle Nebula,” explained ESA.

Life cycle of the Milky Way

The nebula’s location in the Sagittarius Arm – one of the Milky Way’s major spiral arms – places it in a zone bustling with similar star-forming regions. This highlights the role of the Eagle Nebula in shaping the structure and the future of our galaxy.

Studies of the Eagle Nebula have revealed that the region is rich in young, hot stars – some of which are only a few million years old. These stars are in various stages of development, providing a natural laboratory for astronomers to study stellar life cycles. 

Evolution of the Eagle Nebula 

Within the Eagle Nebula, there is a variety of stellar processes occurring in close proximity. Some stars are still forming within dense clouds of gas, while others have already matured and begun to emit powerful ultraviolet radiation. 

The ongoing interaction between young stars and their environment drives the evolution of the nebula itself. 

As newly formed stars heat and disperse the gas and dust around them, they trigger further waves of star formation – or in some cases, halt it altogether. 

This feedback loop not only influences the pace of star birth in the Eagle Nebula but also contributes to the broader life cycle of matter within the Milky Way, enriching the galaxy with heavier elements forged in stellar cores.

Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, K. Noll

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