If you’ve ever wanted to take a walk in deep space, this might be as close as you’ll ever get.
In this stunning animation, NASA lets the viewer wander through the trunks of the ‘Pillars of Creation’ in a nebula 6,500 light years from Earth.
This is the most detailed and comprehensive video ever made of these star-forming clouds, described as ‘high trails’ of cosmic dust and gas.
It was made possible by combining observations from two of NASA’s most powerful space telescopes, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Hubble Space Telescope.
And, with JWST’s infrared spectrum, you can even look within three light years of the tall pillars to see new stars being born.
This animation was created by combining observations from the Hubble Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope. In this image you can see a comparison between two different observations
This groundbreaking animation captures the 3D structure of these massive formations for the first time, letting the viewer fly through light years of space.
However, this is not just a fantastic impression of an artist, but a work of scientific research.
Using observations obtained by Anna McLeod, an associate professor at Durham University, NASA has been able to accurately reconstruct the arrangement of the poles.
Rendered in 3D, you can clearly see that the pillars are not aligned, but actually spread out over a large area of space.
Frank Summers, the Space Telescope Science Institute’s (STScI) principal visualization scientist, says: “By flying in front of and between the pillars, viewers experience their three-dimensional structure and see how they look differently in Hubble’s visible light view versus the Web .infrared view.’
The pillars of creation are part of the Eagle Nebula, a structure just under 7,000 light-years from Earth – first observed by Hubble Space Tesco in 1985.
This animation was created by combining observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (left) which takes images in the infrared spectrum with those images of the visible light spectrum from the Hubble telescope (right)
However, this latest animation combines pictures taken by Hubble with the latest observations from JWST.
This not only renders the pillars of creation in the highest detail ever captured, but also provides a new perspective on the formation of stars like our sun.
Each of the three pillars consists of cold molecular hydrogen and clouds of interstellar dust.
Stretching up to free light-years in length – three-quarters of the way from our sun to the nearest star – these huge clouds make perfect stellar nurseries.
The Pillars of Creation 6500 light years from us are in a regional space known as the Eagle Nebula
Thanks to the 3D animation, viewers can see that the pillars are not flat, but are located throughout a large regional space.
While the interior of these structures is hidden in the visible light spectrum, infrared light penetrates through the thick dust.
Mr Summers says: ‘The contrast helps them understand why we have more than one space telescope to observe different aspects of the same object.’
By using JWST to gather information in the infrared spectrum, we are able to peer inside dust clouds to observe young stars at different stages of growth.
In the animation, you can see these as bright points of light visible through the dust or clearly shown 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 peer inside dust clouds to see Protostars in their early stages of formation
In one of the pillars, we can see a very young star ejecting a plume of material into space, while in the larger pillar a ‘protostar’ (a very young star that is still gathering mass) can be seen.
Mark Clampin, director of the astrophysics division at NASA headquarters in Washington, says: ‘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 provide us with new insights that improve our understanding of how stars form.
“Now, with this new visualization, everyone can experience this rich, fascinating landscape in a new way.”
The Pillars of Creation offers one of the most famous cosmic views in astronomical history
The original Hubble Space Telescope image of the famous Pillars of Creation was taken two decades ago and instantly became one of its most famous and evocative photos.
The emerging 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 is 6,500 light-years from Earth – and are known to be a source of star formation
The nebula and associated objects are located about 7,000 light-years away in the constellation Serpents (Serpents).
The Pillars of Creation are a classic example of column-like shapes that develop in the giant clouds of gas and dust that are the birthplace of young stars.
The plumes are born when the massive, newly formed blue-white O and B stars emit strong ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds that blow away less dense material from their vicinity.
However, denser pockets of gas and dust can resist this erosion for longer.
Behind such pockets of thicker dust, the material is shielded from the harsh, dry glow of O and B stars.
This shielding creates dark ‘tails’ or ‘elephant tracts’, which we see as the dark body of a pole, pointing away from bright stars.