Image:Eagle.column1.arp.750pix.jpg
|
|
This eerie, dark structure in IC 4703 (the Eagle nebula) is a column of cool molecular hydrogen gas and dust that is an incubator for new stars. The stars are embedded inside finger-like protrusions clearly seen extending from the top of the column. Each "fingertip" is somewhat larger than our own solar
system.
The pillar is slowly eroding away by the ultraviolet light from nearby hot stars, a process called "photoevaporation". As it does, small globules of especially dense gas buried within the cloud are uncovered. These globules have been dubbed "EGGs" ; an acronym for "Evaporating Gaseous Globules". The shadows of the EGGs protect gas behind them, resulting in the finger-like structures at the top of the cloud.
CREDIT: Jeff Hester and Paul Scowen (Arizona State University), Hubble Space Telescope and NASA
SOURCE: http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/1995/44/image/b
COPYRIGHT: “Material credited to STScI on this site was created, authored, and/or prepared for NASA under Contract NAS5-26555. Unless otherwise specifically stated, no claim to copyright is being asserted by STScI and it may be freely used as in the public domain in accordance with NASA's contract. However, it is requested that in any subsequent use of this work NASA and STScI be given appropriate acknowledgement.”
Template:PD-USGov-NASA
PREPARED BY Adrian Pingstone in November 2003.
File links
There are no pages that link to this file.
