The Pillars of Creation have fascinated the world since their discovery in 1995, and it’s no wonder. This wonderful structure seems straight out of a fantasy product, but often nature, and especially space, turn out to be the most creative artists.
Now, after years of research and more than one opportunity to be photographed, NASA brings us another great experience: it allows us fly between them thanks to a 3D visualization model that turns these imposing celestial structures into an explorable space for the general public.
Using data from the Hubble space telescopes, its discoverer, and also from James Webb, NASA has created a detailed sequence in multiple wavelengths of light that allows us to appreciate its three-dimensionality, in addition to observing very different aspects of the same body: from the view of visible light, and also infrared light. These different perspectives allow us to better understand the Universe.
WHAT ARE THE PILLARS OF CREATION?
Located in the heart of the Eagle Nebula, at a distance of approximately 6.5 billion light years From our planet, rise four imposing finger-shaped structures composed mainly of cold molecular hydrogen gas and cosmic dust.
At first glance, these may seem like rock formations similar to those we would find in some corners of the Earth, they give us a certain feeling of familiarity, but nothing could be further from the truth: New stars can form within each of them.. Eventually, these will be forcefully pushed out of the cloud.
So that we can get an idea of its enormous magnitude All we have to do is compare them with the distance that separates us from the Sun: the tallest pillar extends over three light years, the equivalent of three quarters of the distance between the Sun and the Earth.
However, these enormous pillars are constantly being eroded by the strong interstellar winds and the ultraviolet light they receive from nearby stars.
The spectacular Pillars of Creation
A WALK THROUGH the Eagle Nebula
Beyond being amazed by the beauty of these images, it is interesting to try to understand what we are seeing and the implications that this project entails on a scientific level. We explain it to you!
The video does not contain a simple artistic recreation of the Pillars of Creation, but rather shows us images of these structures under two different types of light. On the one hand, Hubble shows objects through visible light, highlighting those that reach thousands of degrees. On the other hand, the James Webb uses infrared light that allows you to see the coldest bodies and go through the formation of dust.
This allows us to make a comparison between both, where it is clearly seen that Different types of light highlight different aspects of the same panorama heavenly. Therefore, by combining them a great level of detail and a more complete vision is achieved. It is for this reason that more than one astronomical instrument is often used to study the same celestial body.
Finally, it should be noted that the images recently provided by NASA bring us closer to the Pillars of Creation to the point of being able to observe different stages of the star formation process: at the upper end of one of the fingers we see a red glow that corresponds to a protostar in its infantile stage, in the left pillar we see the expulsion of a jet of material that indicates the birth of a star, and very close, seen low infrared light, a new star shines.
