Infrared telescope spies mountains of star creation.
These peaks of gas and dust in a part of the Cassiopeia constellation 7,000 lightyears from Earth show hundreds of stars in the making (bright dots within the structures). Radiation and winds blasting from a massive star, which lies above the image frame, have compressed the structures, triggering waves of star birth. The infrared image was taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope Spitzer Space Telescope: see infrared astronomy; observatory, orbiting. and released Nov. 9. It resembles "Pillars of Creation Pillars of Creation can refer to: - The Pillars of Creation, a fantasy novel by Terry Goodkind
- Columns of interstellar gas and dust in the Eagle Nebula
," a famous, visible-light image of the Eagle nebula The Eagle Nebula (also known as Messier Object 16, M16 or NGC 6611), perhaps one of the most famous and easily recognized space objects, is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens, discovered by Jean-Philippe de Cheseaux in 1745-46. taken by the Hubble space Telescope Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the first large optical orbiting observatory. Built from 1978 to 1990 at a cost of $1.5 billion, the HST (named for astronomer E. P. Hubble) was expected to provide the clearest view yet obtained of the universe. (SN: 3/16/02, p. 171). However, the structures in the new image are about 15 light-years long--10 times the length of those in the Hubble picture. The new image also provides greater detail because the new stars' infrared light, unlike visible light, penetrates the dust of their mountain homes.
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