"The Pillars of Creation" in 3D
The Hubble Space Telescope's picture known as "The Pillars of Creation," may be one of the most beautiful and recognizable space images we have. Now, new research from the European Southern Observatory had added new depth to our understanding of the imagery -- literally.
Using MUSE, an instrument on the Very Large Telescope that allows scientists to create 3D renderings of astronomical objects by measuring light intensity, a team of researchers from German and Italy has produced the first complete three-dimensional view of the famous Pillars of Creation, showing how the dusty pillars are arranged in space.
The pillars are three enormous columns of cold gas illuminated from the ultraviolet emissions from a cluster of young stars in the Eagle Nebula, 6,500 light-years from Earth. They are a classic example of the column-like shapes that develop in the giant clouds of gas and dust that are the birthplaces of new stars. The columns arise when massive young stars give off intense ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds blow away less dense materials from their vicinity, leaving denser pockets of gas and dust. Behind such thicker dust pockets, material is shielded from the stars's glare, giving us the pillars we see.
Researchers used data from MUSE to analyze the ongoing evaporation of the Pillars of Creation in unprecedented detail, and in doing so, they have revealed their orientation in space in three dimensions.
MUSE has shown that the pillar on the far left is actually situated behind a cluster of stars called NGC 6611, while the other pillars are in front of it. The tip of the left pillar is facing us, and is getting most of the radiation from NGC 6611's stars, which is why it looks brighter than the other three pillars, whose tips are all pointed away from our view. (They might look brighter from the other side.)
The iconic photo of the Pillars of Creation was first taken in 1995. Earlier this year, in honor of the impending 25th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope, which took the image, NASA revisited it in stunning high-def. By comparing the HD version to the original, scientists were able to see that parts of the pillars are evaporating away, and that one jet-like feature has, in the last 19 years, stretched another 60 billion miles into space.
The new research used the pillars' rate of evaporation to determine its estimated lifespan. Given their present mass of about 200 times that of the sun and the fact that they shed about 70 times the mass of the Sun every million years or so, the scientists estimated that the Pillars of Creation will last perhaps another 3 million more years -- what ESO considers "an eye blink in cosmic time."