Thursday, October 20, 2022

Wow! The Webb space telescope images the Pillars of Creation

 

Courtesy of the BBC, here's a wonderful image of the Pillars of Creation in the Serpens constellation, taken by the Webb space telescope.  Click either image for a much larger view.



And here's a comparison between the Hubble space telescope's view of the Pillars (on the left) and the Webb's greatly improved and much sharper view (on the right).



From the report:


Webb, with its infrared detectors, is able to see past much of the light-scattering effects of the pillars' dust to examine the activity of the new-born suns.

"I've been studying the Eagle Nebula since the mid-1990s, trying to see 'inside' the light-years long pillars that Hubble showed, searching for young stars inside them. I always knew that when James Webb took pictures of it, they would be stunning. And so they are," Prof Mark McCaughrean, the Senior Advisor for Science at the European Space Agency, told BBC News.

The M16's pillars are being illuminated and sculpted by the intense ultraviolet light from massive nearby stars. That radiation is also dismantling the towers.

Indeed, if you could magically transport yourself to this location today, the pillars are very probably no longer there.

We only see them because we're looking at them in the past. The light that Webb detects has taken 6,500 years to reach its mirrors.


There's more at the link.

Seeing wonderful images like that reminds me of how very, very small and insignificant humankind is, in comparison to the vastness of the universe.

Peter


3 comments:

Ed Bonderenka said...

"Seeing wonderful images like that reminds me of how very, very small and insignificant humankind is, in comparison to the vastness of the universe."
Until I remember that the son of god gave His life for us on this planet.
And awaits for the joy set before Him.

Mind your own business said...

We should enjoy these. They may well be the last benefits of a golden age of technology and prosperity.

As stated by someone (not me): "The industrial revolution led to a wealthy and independent middle class throughout Western Civ and ended the rule of kings and oligarchs. For this terrible sin against the Rightful Rule of Davos Man, it must be systematically undone."

Ritchie said...

It's worth remembering that the Webb is not just a better Hubble. The images you see are taken in multiple "colors" of infrared, and translated into false color rendition for ordinary viewing.