Peering Into the Pillars of Creation

The Eagle Nebula (M16): Peering Into the Pillars of Creation
(A nearby star-forming region about 7,000 light-years from Earth.), Image: Smithsonian Institution.

A composite image of the Eagle Nebula (M16) with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope penetrates the dark columns of gas and dust to reveal how much star formation is happening there. The Chandra data (red, green, and blue represent low, medium, and high-energy X-rays respectively) show very few X-ray sources in the so-called "Pillars of Creation" themselves. This indicates that star formation peaked in this region several million years ago.