SpazeEagle Nebula, M16
Pillars of Creation
Towers of cold gas and dust, each light years tall, being eaten away by the light of hot young stars. Hubble’s 1995 picture made them famous.
- Distance
- 5,700 light years
- Pillars
- About 4 light years tall
- Made of
- Hydrogen gas and dust
Gas
- Hydrogen 90%
- Helium 9%
- Oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur, carbon 1%
Glowing gas lit by young stars: red from hydrogen, teal from oxygen, threaded with dark dust
Measured by emission-line spectroscopy (Hubble, JWST)