Object Analysis

The Eagle Nebula (Messier 16) is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens, discovered by Jean-Philippe de Cheseaux in 1745. It is best known for the "Pillars of Creation," three towering columns of gas and dust photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995. These pillars are incubators where new stars are being born, though the intense ultraviolet light from massive young stars is slowly eroding them away.

Located about 7,000 light-years from Earth, M16 is part of a diffuse emission nebula, or H II region, which is cataloged as IC 4703. The cluster associated with the nebula has approximately 460 stars, the brightest of which has a mass of roughly 80 solar masses and a luminosity up to 1 million times that of the Sun.

Recent observations suggest that a supernova may have already exploded nearby, and the shockwave could have toppled the Pillars of Creation about 6,000 years ago. However, due to the finite speed of light, we won't see this destruction for another millennium.