Hubble and Webb Showcase the Pillars of Creation

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope made the Pillars of Creation famous with its first image in 1995, but revisited the scene in 2014 to reveal a sharper, wider view in visible light.

A new, near-infrared-light view from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam instrument, helps us peer through more of the dust in this star-forming region. The thick, dusty brown pillars are no longer as opaque and many more red stars that are still forming come into view. Learn more about this image here.

Thirdly, a new image from Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) showcases the interstellar dust cloaks. And while mid-infrared light specialises in detailing where dust is, the stars aren’t bright enough at these wavelengths to appear. Instead, these looming, leaden-hued pillars of gas and dust gleam at their edges, hinting at the activity within. Learn more about this image here.

The pillars are a small region within the Eagle Nebula, a vast star-forming region 6,500 light-years from Earth.