It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
The Hubble Space Telescope's "Pillars of Creation" picture is arguably the best-known astronomical image of the 20th century, but can you spot the pillars in the 21st-century version? Those well-known towers of gas and dust are dwarfed by the full majesty of the Eagle Nebula in a view that's based on far-infrared observations from the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory, plus X-ray readings from the XMM-Newton probe.
In 2001, a near-infrared image from the ISAAC instrument, at the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope facility in Chile, cut through the dust and revealed some of the infant stars within their EGGs.
Researchers determined that 11 of the 73 EGGs in the Hubble image clearly had stars associated with them. Only one of these stars had been previously been seen in the Hubble images, and another five EGGs were noted as possibly containing stars.
Originally posted by Sahabi
Breath takingly beautiful! The immense vastness of the Universe is awe-inspiring.
Is the Eagle Nebula really a part of Ophiuchus?
The Eagle Nebula (catalogued as Messier 16 or M16, and as NGC 6611) is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens, discovered by Jean-Philippe de Cheseaux in 1745-46. Its name derives from its shape which is resemblant of an eagle. It is the subject of the famous "Pillars of Creation" photograph by the Hubble Space Telescope, which shows pillars of star-forming gas and dust within the nebula.
Originally posted by Popular
Amazing photo's.
I gave you a star, I'd flag this thread but I don't have enough posts yet :/
Video is well worth a watch in 720p. Breathtaking.edit on 18-1-2012 by Popular because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by Arbitrageur
reply to post by freakjive
Pillars of creation? What's that?
Just kidding, part of the old image is my avatar.
Now that they have new imagery, does this mean I have to change my avatar?
Thanks for the post, of course I find it of interest with an avatar like mine!
Yes it is, but we better enjoy it while it lasts. Since the pillars have likely already been destroyed we may only have a few hundred years left to enjoy the view.
Originally posted by freakjive
I love your avatar, but a new and improved one could be in order!
The new image is amazing!
Originally posted by Duceis
What makes these photos so amazing that even if you showed this to a random person who had no idea this was of a "space object". It's still a very beautiful picture....and the fact that it's possible life out there makes it more awe inspiring.
Originally posted by plopunisher
Thanks so much for the post and video!
Originally posted by UkRandom
Absolutley stunning images many thanks for putting them into a post
everytime i see images such like that it kinda throws a perspective on just how massivley amazing the solar system is
S+F
very nice post indeed thanks