\n<\/a>Hubble captures the Pillars of Creation twenty years on<\/em><\/p>\n
The NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured many breathtaking images of the Universe, but one snapshot stands out from the rest: the Eagle Nebula\u2019s Pillars of Creation. In 1995 Hubble\u2019s iconic image revealed never-before-seen details in the giant columns and now the telescope is kickstarting its 25th year in orbit with an even clearer, and more stunning, image of these beautiful structures.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n The three impressive towers of gas and dust captured in this image are part of the\u00a0Eagle Nebula<\/a>, otherwise known as Messier 16. Although such features are not uncommon in star-forming regions, the Messier 16 structures<\/a> are by far the most photogenic and evocative ever captured. The Hubble image of the pillars taken in 1995<\/a> is so popular that it has appeared in film and television, on tee-shirts and pillows, and even on postage stamps.<\/p>\n Now Hubble has revisited the famous pillars, capturing the multi-coloured glow of gas clouds, wispy tendrils of dark cosmic dust, and the rust-coloured elephants\u2019 trunks with the newer Wide Field Camera 3<\/a>, installed in 2009. The visible-light image builds on one of the most iconic astronomy images ever taken and provides astronomers with an even sharper and wider view.<\/p>\n In addition to this new visible-light image, Hubble has also produced a bonus image. This image is taken in infrared<\/a> light, which penetrates much of the obscuring dust and gas and unveils a more unfamiliar view of the pillars, transforming them into wispy silhouettes set against a background peppered with stars. Here newborn stars, hidden in the visible-light view, can be seen forming within the pillars themselves [1]<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"New](\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/heic1501a1-982x1024.jpg\")
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