These pillars of mollecular hidrogen protrude from the interior wall of a dark molecular cloud like stalagmites from the floor of a cavern. They are part of the "Eagle Nebula" (also called M16), a nearby star-forming region 7,000 light-years away in the constellation Serpens.
As the pillars themselves are slowly eroded away by the ultraviolet light, small globules of even denser gas buried within the pillars are uncovered. These globules have been dubbed "EGGs". EGGs is an acronym for "Evaporating Gaseous Globules," but it is also a word that describes what these objects are. Forming inside at least some of the EGGs are embryonic stars. Each EGG has roughly the same size of our solar system. The tallest pillar (left) is about a light-year long from base to tip.
Red shows emission from singly-ionized sulfur atoms. Green shows emission from hydrogen. Blue shows light emitted by doubly- ionized oxygen atoms.
PILLARS OF CREATION IN A STAR-FORMING REGION
(Gas Pillars in M16 - Eagle Nebula)
STELLAR "EGGS" EMERGE FROM MOLECULAR
CLOUD (Star-Birth Clouds in M16)
STELLAR "EGGS" EMERGE FROM MOLECULAR
CLOUD (CLOSEUP) (Evaporating Globules in M16)
(J. Hester. 1-4-1995)