What are the Pillars of Creation? NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captures stunning images

The famous structure is home to baby stars
Beril Naz Hassan20 October 2022

The beautiful photograph has since wowed people across the globe, leading them to wonder: what exactly are the Pillars of Creation?

Learn about the striking pillar-like structures captured by NASA and why they’re so significant below.

What are the Pillars of Creation?

The Pillars of Creation were first made famous when NASA imaged them using its Hubble Space Telescope in 1995.

It consists of lots of interstellar gas and dust in the form of three pillar-like structures in space.

The gas and dust are in the process of making new stars. while being in close proximity to recently formed stars. When there is enough mass within the gas and dust, a collapse happens, before the heat rises and eventually births a new star.

Once fully formed, stars burst out of such dusty cloud structures over a period of millions of years.

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope made the Pillars of Creation famous with its first image in 1995, but revisited the scene in 2014 to reveal a sharper, wider view in visible light (left)
NASA

In the recent image captured by NASA, the newly formed stars nearby can be seen as bright-red orbs.

And, the lava-like structures at the edges of the pillars are ejections from stars that are still forming within the gas and dust. NASA explains that young stars shoot out supersonic jets that collide with clouds of materials from time to time.

The young stars are thought to be only a few hundred years old.

The new and more detailed image captured by the James Webb Space Telescope will allow researchers to improve their models of star formation as well as the quantities of gas and dust in the region.

Scientists will also be able to get a better understanding of how stars are formed.

Where are the Pillars of Creation?

The Pillars of Creation are located in the Eagle Nebula, within the Serpens constellation.

The Eagle Nebula, also known as Star Queen Nebula, is a young open cluster of stars located in the Sagittarius arm of the Milky Way.

The Pillars of Creation are estimated to be 6,500 to 7,000 light-years away from our planet.

The Eagle Nebula
Reuters/NASA

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in