Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Pillars of Creation Toppled By Stellar Blast
Space.com ^ | 1/9/2007 | Ker Than

Posted on 01/09/2007 11:08:53 AM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity

SEATTLE – They helped open the public's eyes to the wonders of space when they were first photographed in 1995, but a new study suggests the famous Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula might have already been toppled long ago, and that what the Hubble Space Telescope actually captured was their ghost image.

A new picture of the Eagle Nebula shot by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope show the intact pillars next to a giant cloud of glowing dust scorched by the heat of a massive stellar explosion known as a supernova [image].

Astronomers think the supernova's shock wave knocked the pillars down about 6,000 years ago. But because light from that region of the sky takes 7,000 years to reach us, the majestic pillars will appear intact to observers on Earth for another 1,000 years or so.

The supernova blast is thought to have occurred between 6,000 and 9,000 years ago, so what astronomers see now is evidence of the blast just before its destructive shock wave reached the pillars.

Astronomers have long predicted that a supernova blast wave would destroy the famous pillars. One earlier study concluded that the pillars would be destroyed sometime within the next million years. About 20 stars in the region are ripe for exploding and it was only a matter of time before one exploded.

The new Spitzer image suggests one of the stellar time bombs has already detonate. Humans living 1,000 to 2,000 years ago might have noticed the supernova event that destroyed the pillars as an unusually bright star in the sky.

In an end befitting their name, however, astronomers think that gas and dust from the pillar's destruction will help give birth to a new generation of stars.

The study, led by Nicolas Flagey of The Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale in France, was presented here today at the 209th meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

Editor's Note: All week, SPACE.com is providing complete coverage of the 209th meeting of the American Astronomical Society.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: astronomy; eaglenebula; m16; nasa; pillarsofcreation
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-54 next last
To: Excuse_My_Bellicosity

Take two pillars and call me the next millennium...


21 posted on 01/09/2007 11:31:34 AM PST by mikrofon (Astro BUMP)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mikrofon

"Say, where is your hand?"

"Between two pillars."

"Those aren't pillars!!!"


22 posted on 01/09/2007 11:33:33 AM PST by Larry Lucido
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

So... could it be said that at the Incarnation of Christ, the Pillars of Creation were rocked?


23 posted on 01/09/2007 11:34:10 AM PST by pgyanke (Gay marriage does to real marriage what counterfeit money does to real money. - Hemogoblin)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: spunkets
The shock wave travels much slower than the light from the same event. Notice when a bomb/fireworks/lightning goes off, the light from the event is seen before the shock wave/sound hits.

So the shockwave is some kind of particle that travels more slowly than light? Is it just the matter from the exploding star.

24 posted on 01/09/2007 11:34:55 AM PST by ModelBreaker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: dead

2000 years ago? The Star of Bethlehem?


25 posted on 01/09/2007 11:37:30 AM PST by null and void (Propaganda doesn't have to make sense. Hell, it often works better if it doesn't.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: RichInOC

*GROAN*


26 posted on 01/09/2007 11:37:57 AM PST by null and void (Propaganda doesn't have to make sense. Hell, it often works better if it doesn't.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: ModelBreaker
" Is it just the matter from the exploding star."

Yes. They can tell the star already exploded from the effects of the light that already hit it. It would have raised the temp. of the nebula. They're looking at the effects that had. Once the paritcles in the shock wave arrive, the nebulla will be blown apart.

27 posted on 01/09/2007 11:39:52 AM PST by spunkets
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: null and void

Sorry, nully. I just couldn't resist.


28 posted on 01/09/2007 11:40:24 AM PST by RichInOC (BOOM!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: RichInOC

I'm just mad that I didn't think of it first...


29 posted on 01/09/2007 11:41:19 AM PST by null and void (Propaganda doesn't have to make sense. Hell, it often works better if it doesn't.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: pgyanke

Exactly....Isaiah 48:6
Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.


30 posted on 01/09/2007 11:43:28 AM PST by Red Badger (New! HeadOn Hemorrhoid Medication for Liberals!.........Apply directly to forehead.........)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Larry Lucido
The Armed & Rangerous in the Department of the Inferior are feverishly at work preparing a request to Congress for an astronomical amount of money to deal with the newly discovered violation of the Endangered Stars Act (ESA).

And we thought ESA meant endangered species act. We are soooo very fortunate to have Ranger Randy & Rangerette Janette hard at work safeguarding interstellar treasures for posterity.
31 posted on 01/09/2007 11:45:26 AM PST by GladesGuru (In a society predicated upon Liberty, it is essential to examine principles, - -)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Larry Lucido
The Armed & Rangerous in the Department of the Inferior are feverishly at work preparing a request to Congress for an astronomical amount of money to deal with the newly discovered violation of the Endangered Stars Act (ESA).

And we thought ESA meant endangered species act. We are soooo very fortunate to have Ranger Randy & Rangerette Janette hard at work safeguarding interstellar treasures for posterity.
32 posted on 01/09/2007 11:46:05 AM PST by GladesGuru (In a society predicated upon Liberty, it is essential to examine principles, - -)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Excuse_My_Bellicosity
Vogon Constructor Fleet hard at work!


33 posted on 01/09/2007 11:48:07 AM PST by Teacher317
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Larry Lucido

It isn't too late to blame Bush, is it? At least Karl Rove?


34 posted on 01/09/2007 11:52:25 AM PST by Redleg Duke (Heaven is home...I am just TDY here!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Redleg Duke
Nahhh, the only ones around from back then are Sen Byrd, and Helen Thomas...


(Rumor has it the originally the name of the Eagle Nebula was supposed to be the Byrd Nebula)...
35 posted on 01/09/2007 12:11:04 PM PST by null and void (Propaganda doesn't have to make sense. Hell, it often works better if it doesn't.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: ModelBreaker; spunkets

Here's my question. Can you technically have "shock" or "sound" waves in space, without a medium for the waves to travel through? I mean, we all know that in space no one can hear you scream.


36 posted on 01/09/2007 12:23:47 PM PST by Larry Lucido
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: ModelBreaker; spunkets

For that matter, if a pillar falls in space and there's no one to hear it, does it still scream?


37 posted on 01/09/2007 12:25:45 PM PST by Larry Lucido
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: Excuse_My_Bellicosity

I blame global warming.


38 posted on 01/09/2007 12:27:23 PM PST by <1/1,000,000th%
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Larry Lucido; RadioAstronomer
Sound waves? No. Not as we think of sound (compressed gasses at near room temperatures and pressures).

A "shock" wave (through the thin (near-vacuum) plasmas and near-vacuum "dust" clouds) is possible.
39 posted on 01/09/2007 12:32:52 PM PST by Robert A Cook PE (I can only donate monthly, but Hillary's ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: Excuse_My_Bellicosity

So, let me get this straight: If we are looking at something 10,000 light years away, we're actually seeing it as, you know, like, it was 10,000 years ago?

DUUUUDE...


Am I missing something in this article. All I can see is that they are stating the obvious.


40 posted on 01/09/2007 12:36:53 PM PST by RobRoy (Islam is a greater threat to the world today than Nazism was in 1938.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-54 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson