PILLARS OF CREATION
A new image captured by the James Webb Space Telescope showcases the Pillars of Creation, located over 6,000 light-years away from Earth.
The Webb telescope was able to take this new photo by using infrared detectors to see beyond most of the light-scattering effects caused by the pillars' dust. The latest photo, released Wednesday, allows viewers to look at the activity of new suns near the gas clouds of the pillar, according to BBC.
"I've been studying the Eagle Nebula since the mid-1990s, trying to see 'inside' the light-years long pillars that Hubble showed, searching for young stars inside them. I always knew that when James Webb took pictures of it, they would be stunning. And so they are," said professor Mark McCaughrean, the senior adviser for science at the European Space Agency.
RESEARCHERS SUSPECT 'SOMETHING IS FISHY' WITH UNIVERSE EXPANSION
The pillars are located at the heart of what astronomers call Messier 16, or the Eagle Nebula. The area is an active star-forming region roughly 6,500 light-years away from Earth.
Previous photos of the pillars were taken by the Hubble Observatory between 1995 and 2014. The pillars are illuminated and sculpted by intense ultraviolet light coming from massive stars in close proximity to them.
Provided by Washington Examiner This combination image provided by NASA on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022, shows the Pillars of Creation as imaged by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in 2014, left, and by NASA's James Webb Telescope, right. The new, near-infrared-light view from the James Webb Space Telescope helps us peer through more of the dust in the star-forming region, according to NASA. Space Telescope Science Institute Office of Public Outreach/APCLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Due to the pillars being 6,500 light-years away, they would most likely no longer be present at the location, as the photo was taken by viewing the pillars in the past. The light detected by the satellite took 6,500 years to reach the mirrors of the spacecraft.
The James Webb telescope, which launched into space last year, released its first color image of outer space in July.