If you ever wanted to take a walk in deep space, this might be as close as ever.
In this stunning animation, NASA lets the viewer walk through the trunks of the “Pillars of Creation” in a nebula 6,500 light-years from Earth.
It is the most detailed and comprehensive video ever created of these star birth clouds, described as “towering tendrils” of cosmic dust and gas.
This is made possible by combining observations from NASA’s two most powerful space telescopes, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Hubble Space Telescope.
And, thanks to JWST’s infrared spectrum, you can even look inside the three light-year-high pillars to see young stars being born.
This animation was created by combining observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope. In this image you can see a comparison between the two different observations
This groundbreaking animation captures the 3D structure of these vast formations for the first time, allowing the viewer to fly light years into space.
However, this is not just a fanciful impression of an artist, but a work of scientific research.
Thanks to observations made by Anna McLeod, associate professor at Durham University, NASA was able to accurately reconstruct the layout of the pillars.
Rendered in 3D, you can clearly see that the pillars are not aligned, but are actually stretched across much of the space.
Frank Summers, principal visualization scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), says, “As viewers fly over and pass among the pillars, they learn about their three-dimensional structure and see how they appear different in Hubble’s visible-light view than they do in Webb’s infrared-light view.”
The Pillars of Creation are part of the Eagle Nebula, a structure located just under 7,000 light years from Earth, first observed by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1985.
This animation was created by combining observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (left), which takes images in the infrared spectrum, with images of the visible light spectrum from the Hubble Space Telescope (right).
However, this latest animation combines photographs taken by Hubble with the latest observations from JWST.
Not only does this render the Pillars of Creation in the most detail ever captured, it also offers a new perspective on how stars like our own sun form.
Each of the three pillars is composed of cold molecular hydrogen and clouds of interstellar dust.
Stretching out to free light years – three-quarters of the distance between our sun and the nearest star – these vast clouds make perfect star nurseries.
The Pillars of Creation, 6,500 light-years away, lie in a region known as the Eagle Nebula.
Through 3D animation, viewers can see that the pillars are not flat but are actually arranged in a large regional space
While the interior of these structures is hidden in the visible light spectrum, infrared light pierces through the thick dust.
Mr Summers says: “The contrast helps them understand why we have multiple space telescopes looking at different aspects of the same object.”
By using JWST to collect information in the infrared spectrum, we are able to peer into dust clouds to observe young stars at different stages of growth.
In the animation you can see them as bright spots visible through the dust or clearly visible in the infrared spectrum.
the visible light spectrum clearly shows the clouds of dust and cold molecular hydrogen that make up the pillars of creation
Infrared images allow scientists to look inside dust clouds to see proto-stars in the early stages of their formation
In one of the pillars we can see a brand new star ejecting a plume of material into space while in the larger pillar we can see a “protostar” (a very young star that is still gathering mass).
Mark Clampin, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said: “When we combine observations from NASA’s space telescopes at different wavelengths of light, we expand our understanding of the universe.
“The Pillars of Creation region continues to offer us new insights that advance our understanding of star formation.
“Now, with this new visualization, everyone can experience this rich and captivating landscape in a new way.”
The Pillars of Creation offer one of the most famous cosmic views in astronomical history
The original Hubble Space Telescope image of the famous Pillars of Creation was taken twenty years ago and immediately became one of its most famous and evocative images.
The protruding structures, along with the nearby star cluster, NGC 6611, are part of a star-forming region called the Eagle Nebula, also known as Messier 16 or M16.
Resembling a ghostly hand, the Pillars of Creation are part of the Eagle Nebula – which lies 6,500 light-years from Earth – and are known to be a source of star formation
The nebula and its associated objects are located approximately 7,000 light years away in the constellation Serpent.
The Pillars of Creation are a classic example of the columnar shapes that develop in the giant clouds of gas and dust that are the birthplace of new stars.
The columns form when huge, newly formed blue-white O and B stars emit intense ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds that carry away less dense material from their vicinity.
However, denser pockets of gas and dust can resist this erosion longer.
Behind these thicker pockets of dust, the material is protected from the hard, faded glare of O and B stars.
This shielding creates dark “tails” or “elephant trunks,” which we see like the dark body of a pillar, that point away from the bright stars.