{"id":10499,"date":"2015-04-30T07:00:57","date_gmt":"2015-04-30T11:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10499"},"modified":"2015-04-29T01:50:31","modified_gmt":"2015-04-29T05:50:31","slug":"eso-the-pillars-of-creation-seen-in-3d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10499","title":{"rendered":"ESO: The Pillars of Creation seen in 3D"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest report from\u00a0ESO<\/a>\u00a0(European Southern Observatory):<\/p>\n

The Pillars of Creation Revealed in 3D
\n<\/a><\/strong>New study suggests that iconic structures more aptly
\nnamed the Pillars of Destruction<\/em><\/p>\n

Using the MUSE instrument on ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have produced the first complete three-dimensional view of the famous Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula, Messier 16. The new observations demonstrate how the different dusty pillars of this iconic object are distributed in space and reveal many new details \u2014 including a previously unseen jet from a young star. Intense radiation and stellar winds from the cluster\u2019s brilliant stars have sculpted the dusty Pillars of Creation over time and should fully evaporate them in about three million years.<\/p>\n

\"eso1518a_600x405\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This visualisation of the three-dimensional structure of the Pillars of Creation within the star formation region Messier 16 (also called the Eagle Nebula) is based on new observations of the object using the MUSE instrument on ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope in Chile. The pillars actually consist of several distinct pieces on either side of the star cluster NGC 6611. In this illustration, the relative distance between the pillars along the line of sight is not to scale.\u00a0Credit:\u00a0ESO\/M. Kornmesser<\/em><\/p>\n

The original NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope<\/a> image of the famous Pillars of Creation<\/a> was taken two decades ago and immediately became one of its most famous and evocative pictures. Since then, these billowing clouds, which extend over a few light-years [1]<\/a>, have awed scientists and the public alike.<\/p>\n

The jutting structures, along with the nearby star cluster, NGC 6611<\/a>, are parts of a star formation region called the Eagle Nebula<\/a>, also known as Messier 16 or M16. The nebula and its associated objects are located about 7000 light-years away in the constellation of Serpens<\/a> (The Serpent).<\/p>\n

\"eso1518c_600x375\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This view<\/a> shows how the MUSE instrument on ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope has created a three-dimensional view of the iconic Pillars of Creation in the star-forming region Messier 16. Each pixel in the data corresponds to a spectrum that reveals a host of information about the motions and physical conditions of the gas at that point. The slices of the data corresponding to some of the different chemical elements present are highlighted.\u00a0Credit:\u00a0ESO<\/em><\/p>\n

The Pillars of Creation are a classic example of the column-like shapes that develop in the giant clouds of gas and dust that are the birthplaces of new stars. The columns arise when immense, freshly formed blue\u2013white O and B stars give off intense ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds that blow away less dense materials from their vicinity.<\/p>\n

Denser pockets of gas and dust, however, can resist this erosion for longer. Behind such thicker dust pockets, material is shielded from the harsh, withering glare of O and B stars. This shielding creates dark “tails” or \u201celephant trunks\u201d, which we see as the dusky body of a pillar, that point away from the brilliant stars.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/cdn.eso.org\/videos\/medium_podcast\/eso1518a.m4v<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

ESO’s MUSE<\/a> instrument on the Very Large Telescope<\/a> has now helped illustrate the ongoing evaporation of the Pillars of Creation in unprecedented detail, revealing their orientation.<\/p>\n

MUSE has shown that the tip of the left pillar is facing us, atop a pillar that is is actually situated behind NGC 6611, unlike the other pillars. This tip is bearing the brunt of the radiation from NGC 6611\u2019s stars, and as a result looks brighter to our eyes than the bottom left, middle and right pillars, whose tips are all pointed away from our view.<\/p>\n

Astronomers hope to better understand how young O and B stars like those in NGC 6611 influence the formation of subsequent stars. Numerous studies have identified protostars forming in these clouds \u2014 they are indeed Pillars of Creation. The new study also reports fresh evidence for two gestating stars in the left and middle pillars as well as a jet from a young star that had escaped attention up to now.<\/p>\n

For more stars to form in environments like the Pillars of Creation, it is a race against time as intense radiation from the powerful stars that are already shining continues to grind away at the pillars.<\/p>\n

By measuring the Pillars of Creation\u2019s rate of evaporation, MUSE has given astronomers a time frame for when the pillars will be no more. They shed about 70 times the mass of the Sun every million years or so. Based on the their present mass of about 200 times that of the Sun, the Pillars of Creation have an expected lifetime of perhaps three million more years \u2014 an eyeblink in cosmic time. It seems that an equally apt name for these iconic cosmic columns might be the Pillars of Destruction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest report from\u00a0ESO\u00a0(European Southern Observatory): The Pillars of Creation Revealed in 3D New study suggests that iconic structures more aptly named the Pillars of Destruction Using the MUSE instrument on ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have produced the first complete three-dimensional view of the famous Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula, Messier … Continue reading ESO: The Pillars of Creation seen in 3D<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-astronomy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-2Jl","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13443,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=13443","url_meta":{"origin":10499,"position":0},"title":"ESO: Stars are blowing away the pillars of the Carina Nebula","author":"TopSpacer","date":"November 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the latest article from\u00a0ESO\u00a0(European Southern Observatory): Pillars of Destruction Spectacular new observations of vast pillar-like structures within the Carina Nebula have been made using the MUSE instrument on ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope. The different pillars analysed by an international team seem to be pillars of destruction \u2014 in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"This image was taken by the MUSE instrument, mounted on ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope and shows the region R44 within the Carina Nebula, 7500 light-years away. 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