Pillars of Creation, infrared HST image

Pillars of Creation. Infrared Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image of the cold molecular pillars in the Eagle Nebula known as the 'Pillars of Creation'. The near-infrared light gathered here penetrates much of the gas and dust, revealing stars behind the nebula as well as hidden inside the pillars. Some of the gas and dust clouds are so dense that even the near-infrared light cannot penetrate them. New stars embedded in the tops of the pillars are seen as bright sources that are unseen in the visible image. The ghostly bluish haze around the dense edges of the pillars is material getting heated up by nearby (unseen) young, massive stars and evaporating away into space. This region is 6500 light years away, in the constellation of Serpens. Image data obtained in 2014 by the HST's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Image published in 2015., by NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY