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What it is : The Eagle Nebula ( Messier 16 )

Where it is:7,000 light - days away , in the constellation Serpens

an image of the Eagle Nebula

A new version of Hubble’s view of the Eagle Nebula, originally published in 2005, using the latest image processing techniques.

When it was shared : April 18 , 2025

There are few more iconic image from theHubble Space Telescopethan this one . A colossal tower of gas pedal and dust towering 9.5 faint - yr marvellous , this spectacular social system in the Eagle Nebula highlights the breathtaking beauty sculpted by the forces of wiz formation .

The sensational image , originally published in 2005 , is an of import part of why the Hubble is so loved . The photo has been newly processed using modern technique to show the " cosmic pillar " in even more detail , with level of cold gas and dust project by Hubble ’s seeable and infrared photographic camera .

an image of the Eagle Nebula

An uncropped view of the Eagle Nebula.

The fresh paradigm more clearly shows how the radiation from the spicy , youthful star topology in the more dramatic top half of the image is lighting up — but also fret — the massive tower . The picture covers an expanse equal to twice the distance from the sun to Alpha Centauri , the closest mavin organization to our own .

Related : Stunning ' pillars of creation ' radiancy like never before in new James Webb Telescope image

If you opine this newly mint snap looks a act like an even more famous Hubble image , the iconicPillars of Creation , there ’s a rationality for that . Hubble ’s range of three pillar of cosmic detritus and gas that resemble a point finger — first released in1995and improved upon in2015to mark Hubble ’s 25th anniversary — are relatively nearby in the Eagle Nebula ( M16 ) . In fact , both images are of rubble pillars around the edge of the nebula ’s heart , where the actinotherapy from a cluster of young stars calledNGC 6611has sculpted a dental caries in the dusty gasolene .

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An image of red swirling dust and sparkling stars in outer space

Serpens is spectacular in the night sky during the Northern Hemisphere ’s summertime . It can be found in the Confederate States , between the shining genius Aquila and Antares and beneath the constellation Ophiuchus , the Serpent Bearer .

This photo of M16 is the latest redux image published to nock the35th anniversaryof the Hubble Space Telescope , which launched on the space shuttlecock Discovery on April 24 , 1990 and was released from the cargo hatching the following day . Earlier this month , fresh images revisitingNGC 346and theSombrero Galaxywere published .

For more sublime space images , check out ourSpace Photo of the Week archives .

NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features part of the Small Magellanic Cloud.

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