The Science behind the Eagle Nebula Image Howard E. Bond Space Telescope Science Institute and Co-founder, Hubble Heritage Team
Dust pillar in the Eagle Nebula, Messier 16 Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team
Dust pillar in the Eagle Nebula, Messier 16 What’s this? Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team
The Hubble Heritage Program Founded in 1998 to bring the most compelling Hubble images to the public Main criterion is pictorial beauty, with scientific interest also considered Images are taken from archive, sometimes supplemented by new observations obtained by the Heritage team through Director’s Discretionary time, and processed for release
The Hubble Heritage Program Some observations, including the Eagle Nebula Pillar released today, are entirely new images obtained by Heritage team Prizes & honors: Images on US & British postage stamps 2003 Klumpke-Roberts Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for contributions to public appreciation of astronomy
The Hubble Heritage Gallery Visit our website: http://heritage.stsci.edu
Location of M16 in Milky Way Approx 6500 lt-yr from Earth, in constellation Serpens
Amateur Photograph of M16 M16 is an emission nebula or H II region; red color is due to ionized hydrogen gas
Professional Photograph of M16 T. Rector, Kitt Peak 36-inch
Location of 1995 Hubble Image T. Rector, Kitt Peak 36-inch
The Famous WFPC2 Image “Pillars of Creation”
Locations of ACS & WFPC2 Images
How Big is it?
What’s Going on Here?
Star Formation in the Eagle Nebula Dense cloud of interstellar gas, molecules, & dust contracts under its own gravity Massive, hot, blue stars form inside the cloud Stellar winds and UV light push gas & dust away Dense clouds can resist this erosion longer, forming pillars pointing back toward hot stars
Cluster of hot, young stars, recently formed from dust & gas Dense dust & gas
UV radiation & winds create cavity around hot stars
Pillars are denser regions that resist erosion
A Geological Analog: Hoodoos
A Geological Analog: Hoodoos Easily eroded rock Resistant rock prevents erosion, creating a “pillar”
Closeup of Tip of Pillar
Gas evaporating off pillar Blue = oxygen atoms ionized by UV light Red = cooler hydrogen & nitrogen ions Dust & gas compressed by stellar winds, forming new stars—currently visible only in infrared light Dark = dense dust & molecules
Visible-light and Infrared Images IR reveals very young stars embedded In dust Hubble Infrared Space Observatory
Summary The pillars in the Eagle Nebula illustrate some of the complex events that accompany the formation of new stars First-generation stars produce a cavity in their dust cocoons with pillars pointing back to the hot young stars
Summary contd. Second-generation stars can form within the pillars due to compression of the dust and gas Within a few million years, the pillars will completely disappear, leaving only a cluster of newly formed stars