Posted on 07/10/2014 8:26:31 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: A star cluster around 2 million years young, M16 is surrounded by natal clouds of dust and glowing gas also known as The Eagle Nebula. This beautifully detailed image of the region includes cosmic sculptures made famous in Hubble Space Telescope close-ups of the starforming complex. Described as elephant trunks or Pillars of Creation, dense, dusty columns rising near the center are light-years in length but are gravitationally contracting to form stars. Energetic radiation from the cluster stars erodes material near the tips, eventually exposing the embedded new stars. Extending from the left edge of the frame is another dusty starforming column known as the Fairy of Eagle Nebula. M16 and the Eagle Nebula lie about 7,000 light-years away, an easy target for binoculars or small telescopes in a nebula rich part of the sky toward the split constellation Serpens Cauda (the tail of the snake).
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[Credit & Copyright: Adam Block, Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter, Univ. Arizona]
Absolutely Beautiful. Thank You, for the photo. I need to get over/out and view the images more of our universe instead of staying glued to the dust and dirt on this orb, called Earth.
Something I’ve always wondered about and maybe there is an opinion that will make sense but have always been told that when looking at the sky and the formations in the photos it (the photo) is a look back in time or the time being viewed is not the present but instead the past. If true this is a photo of the past, I wonder what this area looks like during this, the present or better known as the present perceived to be the present from Earth time?
Well put.
You’ll just have to wait to find out. :’)
That happened to me in psychology 101. I made a decision back in 1971 that college was an agenda driven propaganda machine and never looked back.
I learn more from FR! hahahahahahahahahahahaha
There are so many amazing formations in that picture that it’s
another Rorschach test for me. I do see the eagle and the fairy.
The false (?) colors are also spectacular and in good contrast to
the closer blue stars in the foreground.
Thank you for all your APOD work today, Mr. Civilizations.
You are greatly appreciated. And good lookin’ too!
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