There is perhaps no more iconic astronomical image than it is Pillars of Creation. First captured by Hubble in 1995 in the Eagle Nebula, several telescopes have focused on the area, and the new James Webb was no exception. Thanks to its enormous power, the new image is a spectacular spectacle, displaying unprecedented detail.

The Pillars of Creation take their name from the constancy of being the source of star creation. The original Hubble image, located in the Eagle Nebula, showed three light-year-long clouds of hydrogen amid stardust, in a dense region of gas and cosmic dust about 6,500 light-years from Earth, located in a cluster known as the “evaporating gas globule “. .”

ESA’s Herschel and XMM-Newton telescopes confirmed years later the formation of stars in the nebulasomething that the original Hubble could not see on its own due to the darkness of the drifting dust, and which was made possible by the long and short infrared wavelengths, which allowed astronomers to see inside the pillars where the reactions trigger the cores that give rise to new stars.

In 2014, Hubble recaptured these Pillars of Creation and provided much more detail, but the visible-light image left the pillars relatively opaque and obscured some of the forming stars. It must be said that the Eagle Nebula is located in the region located in the constellation Serpent and is one of the most beautiful in the known universe and the source of the birth of stars.

It was obvious that James Webb, the most advanced space telescope in history, would focus its impressive “eyes,” its 18 hexagons that make up a 6.5-meter primary mirror nearly three times the size of Hubble’s mirror, on this area. The detail is impressive. New stars are bright red points of light in the scene and are estimated to be “only” a few hundred thousand years old.

Comparison of Hubble and James Webb images

The red glow of the columns, not to mention the wavy lines on some of the edges, are the result of the jets and bow shocks feeding the hydrogen and forcing it out. We don’t see galaxies because the gas and dust from the Milky Way’s interstellar medium blocks out more distant objects in such a dense region.

The image is not only pleasing to the eye, It will also have scientific uses. Astronomers hope to revise their star formation models thanks to the more precise data on stars, gas and dust that Webb will provide. This could improve our understanding of these “nurseries” of stars, their early birth, and the universe in general.

Download images (uncompressed) NASA – Pillars of Creation – James Webb