1995 Hubble WFPC2 Image of M16

Stsci_2015-01b_1024

stsci_2015-01b January 5th, 2015

Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, and J. Hester and P. Scowen (Arizona State University)

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has taken a bigger and sharper photograph of the iconic Eagle Nebula's "Pillars of Creation," shown at right. Astronomers combined several Hubble exposures to assemble a wider view of the pillars, which stretch about 5 light-years high in the new image. The dark, finger-like feature at bottom right may be a smaller version of the giant pillars. The image was taken with Hubble's versatile and sharp-eyed Wide Field Camera 3. The pillars are bathed in the blistering ultraviolet light from a grouping of young, massive stars located off the top of the image. Streamers of gas can be seen bleeding off pillars as the intense radiation heats and evaporates it into space. Denser regions of the pillars are shadowing material beneath them from the powerful radiation. Stars are being born deep inside the pillars, which are made of cold hydrogen gas laced with dust. The pillars are part of a small region of the Eagle Nebula, a vast star-forming region 6,500 light-years from Earth. In the new image, oxygen emission is blue, sulfur is orange, and hydrogen and nitrogen are green.

Provider: Space Telescope Science Institute

Image Source: https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2015/news-2015-01

Curator: STScI, Baltimore, MD, USA

Image Use Policy: http://hubblesite.org/copyright/

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Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
M16 Eagle Nebula NGC 6611
Subject - Milky Way
Nebula > Appearance > Emission
Mission Graphics > Infrared Imagery

Distance

Universescale1
6,500 light years
Stsci_2015-01b_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 18h 18m 52.2s
DEC = -13° 49’ 51.8”
Orientation
North is 42.0° CCW
Field of View
2.5 x 2.5 arcminutes
Constellation
Serpens

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Hubble (WFPC2) Optical ([O III]) 502.0 nm
Green Hubble (WFPC2) Optical (Halpha [N II]) 656.0 nm
Red Hubble (WFPC2) Optical ([S II]) 673.0 nm
1995 Hubble WFPC2
Spectrum_base
Blue
Green
Red
Stsci_2015-01b_1280
×
ID
2015-01b
Subject Category
B.4.2.1   X.Nebula.Emission  
Subject Name
M16, Eagle Nebula, NGC 6611
Credits
NASA, ESA, STScI, and J. Hester and P. Scowen (Arizona State University)
Release Date
2015-01-05T00:00:00
Lightyears
6,500
Redshift
6,500
Reference Url
https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2015/news-2015-01
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
6,500 light-years (2,000 parsecs)
Facility
Hubble, Hubble, Hubble
Instrument
WFPC2, WFPC2, WFPC2
Color Assignment
Blue, Green, Red
Band
Optical, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
[O III], Halpha [N II], [S II]
Central Wavelength
502, 656, 673
Start Time
1995-04-01T00:00:00, 1995-04-01T00:00:00, 1995-04-01T00:00:00
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
1
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
Reference Value
274.71738225667, -13.83106772194
Reference Dimension
1518.00, 1497.00
Reference Pixel
584.08435817300, 593.12508777561
Scale
-0.00002756614, 0.00002756614
Rotation
42.03469293849
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
World Coordinate System resolved using PinpointWCS 0.9.2 revision 218+ by the Chandra X-ray Center
Creator (Curator)
STScI
URL
http://hubblesite.org
Name
Space Telescope Science Institute Office of Public Outreach
Email
outreach@stsci.edu
Telephone
410-338-4444
Address
3700 San Martin Drive
City
Baltimore
State/Province
MD
Postal Code
21218
Country
USA
Rights
http://hubblesite.org/copyright/
Publisher
STScI
Publisher ID
stsci
Resource ID
STSCI-H-p1501b-f-1518x1497.tif
Metadata Date
2022-07-06T00:00:00
Metadata Version
1.2
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
6,500 light years

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