Image 1 Caption: The Eagle Nebula (M16, NGC 6611) from Kitt Peak National Observatory, Kitt Peak, Arizona.

Features:

1. The Eagle Nebula (M16, NGC 6611) is a large star forming region in constellation Serpens at distance 1.740(130) kpc (5,700(400) ly).

2. It is called the Eagle Nebula (M16, NGC 6611) because someone thought it looked like an eagle---and NOT because it is in constellation Aquila which it is NOT.

3. The image is a mosaic in false color from emission line images: Hα (green), oxygen [O III] (blue), sulfur [S II] (red). Hα should be red/pink and maybe [O III] should be green to be true color

4. The 3 Pillars of Creation from the famous Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image are in the center.

5. Note that one has bright emission gas clouds heated by newly formed OB stars that are evaporating the interstellar dust, in the dark dusty clouds where star formation continues.

6. Without some sky map, it's hard to tell which stars are OB stars in the Eagle Nebula (M16, NGC 6611) and which are foreground stars which are bright because they are relatively close to us.

7. The group of bright stars that the Pillars of Creation are pointing to are probably OB stars in the Eagle Nebula (M16, NGC 6611) because they are a dense group associated with Eagle nebula---this is unlikely to be an accident.

   

8. Image 2 Caption: The 3 pillars of dust-laden gas in the Eagle nebula (M16) from Hubble Space Telescope (HST, 1990--c.2040) in 1995---the pillars are somewhat extravagantly called the Pillars of Creation.

9. Image 2 is false color. Red shows emission from singly-ionized sulfur (S) atoms. Green shows emission from hydrogen (i.e., mainly the red atomic hydrogen Hα line) Blue shows light emitted by doubly-ionized oxygen atoms.

10. The pillars are protruberances from a molecular cloud that is mainly below them in the image. The tallest is about 1 lyr long.

11. Above the pillars and off Image 2 are OB stars that formed at an earlier epoch of star formation. Those young stars emit ultraviolet (UV) radiation that is evaporating the pillars.

12. The pillars contain small DENSE CORES or protostar or very young stars contained in dangling globules from the pillars. The stars that will appear when the dust and gas globules are evaporated.

    Near the lower left of the center region there is a dangling globule that appears to have newborn star emerging.

    

13. Image 3 Caption: "NASA's's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has revisited the famous Pillars of Creation, originally photographed in 1995, revealing a sharper and wider view of the structures in this image in visible band (fiducial range 0.4--0.7 μm). Astronomers combined several HST exposures to assemble the wider field of view (FOV). The towering pillars are about 5 light-years (lyr) tall. The dark, finger-like feature at bottom right may be a smaller version of the giant pillars. The new image (i.e., Image 3) was taken with the HST's versatile and sharp-eyed Wide Field Camera 3.

    The Pillars of Creation are bathed in the blistering ultraviolet light (ultraviolet band (fiducial range 0.01--0.4 μm)) from a grouping of young, massive stars located off the top of the image. Streamers of gas can be seen bleeding off the pillars as the intense electromagnetic radiation (EMR) heats and evaporates them into space. Denser regions of the pillars are shadowing material beneath them from the powerful EMR. Stars are being born deep inside the pillars, which are made of cold neutral molecular hydrogen gas laced with interstellar dust. The pillars are part of a small region of the Eagle Nebula (M16, NGC 6611), a vast star forming region 1.740(13) kpc (5700(400) lyr) from Earth.

    The colors in Image 2 highlight emission from several chemical elements: oxygen emission is blue, sulfur is orange, and hydrogen and nitrogen are green. Note Image 2 is somewhat false color.

    A number of Herbig-Haro object jets lengthened noticeably in the 19-year interval between Image 2 and Image 3."

    (Somewhat edited.)

    

14. Image 4 Caption: "The Pillars of Creation are set off in a kaleidoscope of color in NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST, 2021--2041?) image in the near-infrared (NIR, fiducial range 0.750--1.4 μm)." (Somewhat edited.)

    Features

    1. Note the colors are false color since this is an image from near-infrared (NIR, fiducial range 0.750--1.4 μm). However, the colors have probably been chosen in some cases to be what the human eye would see in the visible band (fiducial range 0.4--0.7 μm).

    2. The stars and protostars are NOT resolved and are overexposed, and so have diffraction patterns. The diffraction patterns have 6 bright points due to the 6-fold symmetry of the JWST (2021--2041?) primary mirror (see File:JWST spacecraft model 3.png image). However, often 2 weaker points are seen especially when Image 4 is magnified. Click on Image 4 and then on the linked image and magnify to see the extra 2 weaker points. Some other symmetry in the optical system must cause them.

    3. "The pillars look like natural arches and hoodoos (rock spires) rising out of a desert landscape, but are filled with semi-transparent gas and interstellar dust and are ever changing. They constitute a star formation region where young stars are forming or have barely burst from their dusty cocoons as they continue to form." (Somewhat edited.)

    4. "Newly formed stars are the scene-stealers in NIRCam (Near-InfraRed Camera) Image 4." (Somewhat edited.)

       To see them click on Image 4 and then on the linked image where there is obvious red and magnify to see them. They typically have hexagonal diffraction patterns due to the 6-fold symmetry of the JWST primary mirror (see File:JWST spacecraft model 3.png image).

    5. "When dense regions (called dense cores) with sufficient mass form within the pillars, they begin to collapse under their self-gravity, slowly heat up, and eventually begin shining brightly." (Somewhat edited.)

       The dense cores are usually called protostars when they begin to radiate in the infrared band (fiducial range 0.7 μm -- 0.1 cm), but the term protostar is often used loosely.

       After a protostar blows away its cocoon of gas and interstellar dust, it becomes a pre-main-sequence star. When a pre-main-sequence star begins hydrogen burning, it becomes a zero-age main-sequence star.

    6. "Along the edges of the pillars are wavy lines that look like lava. These are ejections from young stars. periodically shoot out supersonic speed fluid jets that can interact within clouds of material like these thick pillars of gas and interstellar dust. This sometimes also results in bow shocks, which can form wavy patterns like a boat does as it moves through water. These young stars are estimated to be only a few hundred thousand years old, and will continue to form for millions of years." (Somewhat edited.)

       Yours truly does fully understand this last paragraph.

    7. "Although it may appear that near-infrared light (NIR, fiducial range 0.750--1.4 μm) has allowed the JWST (2021--2041?) to pierce through the background to reveal great cosmic distances beyond the pillars, the interstellar medium (ISM) stands in the way, like a drawn curtain. This is also the reason why there are NO distant galaxies in Image 4. The translucent layer of gas blocks our view of the deeper observable universe. Plus, interstellar dust is lit up by the collective light from the packed party of stars that have burst free from the pillars. It's like standing in a well-lit room looking out a window---the interior light reflects on the pane, obscuring the scene outside and, in turn, illuminating the activity at the party inside. (Somewhat edited.)

       Yours truly does fully understand this last paragraph.

    8. "The JWST's (2021--2041?) new view of the Pillars of Creation will help astronomers revamp models of star formation. By identifying far more precise star populations, along with the quantities of gas and interstellar dust in the Eagle Nebula (M16, NGC 6611), they will begin to build a clearer understanding of how stars form and burst out of star formation regions over millions of years." (Somewhat edited).

Images:

1. Credit/Permission: © NOAO/AURA, T.A.Rector (NRAO/AUI/NSF and NOAO/AURA/NSF) and B.A.Wolpa (NOAO/AURA/NSF), before or circa 2003 / NOAO/AURA Image Library Conditions of Use.
   Download site: NOAO: The Eagle Nebula, M16.
   Image link: Itself.
   
2. Credit/Permission: NASA, Hubble Space Telescope (HST, 1990--c.2035), 1995 / Public domain.
   Download site: Wikipedia: File:Eagle nebula pillars.jpg.
   Image link: Itself.
   Local file: local link: eagle_nebula_hst.html.
   
3. Credit/Permission: NASA, Hubble Space Telescope (HST, 1990--c.2035), 2014 (uploaded to Wikipedia by User:Crisco, 2015) / Public domain.
   Image link: Wikipedia:File: Pillars of creation 2014 HST WFC3-UVIS full-res denoised.jpg.
   
4. Credit/Permission: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), James Webb Space Telescope (JWST, 2021--2041?), 2022 (uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by User:Habitator_terrae, 2022) / Public domain.
   Image link: Wikimedia Commons: File:Pillars of Creation (NIRCam Image).jpg.