Explanation: The dust sculptures of the Eagle Nebula are
evaporating. As powerful starlight whittles away these cool
cosmic mountains, the statuesque pillars that remain might be
imagined as mythical beasts. Pictured above is one of several
striking dust pillars of the Eagle Nebula that might be
described as a gigantic alien fairy. This fairy, however, is
ten light years tall and spews radiation much hotter than
common fire. The greater Eagle Nebula, M16, is actually a
giant evaporating shell of gas and dust inside of which is a
growing cavity filled with a spectacular stellar nursery
currently forming an open cluster of stars. The above image in
scientifically re-assigned colors was released in 2005 as part
of the fifteenth anniversary celebration of the launch of the
Hubble Space Telescope.
Hubble Breakthroughs
http://hubblesite.org/hubble_discoveries/breakthroughs/
Orbiting the Earth for over two decades, Hubble has helped
to answer some of the most compelling astronomical questions
of our time -- and uncovered mysteries we never knew
existed. Investigating everything from black holes to
planets around other stars, Hubble has changed the face of
astronomy, ushering in a new chapter of humanity's
exploration of the universe. The major discoveries fall in
the areas of Cosmology, Planetary Science and Galactic
Science.
Hubblecast 51 | Star-forming region S 106
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb-J0NmJ9JY
Hubblecast 37 | Energetic Star Formation: Bubbles And Baby Stars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV9R5sqRnW8
Hubblecast 44: Hubble spies on the Tarantula Nebula
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-Jmz9o_Nz4
Hubblecast 32 | Born in Beauty: Proplyds in the Orion Nebula
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DbdS9sYqyk
The Orion Nebula ~ Ultra HD 4K ~
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnnJg0jqr8A
Webb Space Telescope will study planetary bodies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcaZfWaNR64
Astronomy Picture of the Day Archive
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
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