Pillars of Creation star in new visualization from NASA’s Hubble and Webb telescopes

Made famous in 1995 by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, the Pillars of Creation at the heart of the Eagle Nebula have captured imaginations around the world with their stunning, ethereal beauty.

Now, NASA has released a new 3D visualization of these towering celestial structures using data from NASA’s Hubble and James Webb space telescopes. This is the most comprehensive and detailed multi-wavelength movie to date of these star-forming clouds.

“Flying in front of and between the pillars, viewers experience their three-dimensional structure and see how they look differently in the Hubble visible light view versus the Webb infrared light view,” explained lead visualization scientist Frank Summers of the Space Telescope Science Institute. . (STScI) in Baltimore, who led the film development team for NASA’s Learning Universe. “The contrast helps them understand why we have more than one space telescope to observe different aspects of the same object.”

The Four Pillars of Creation, composed mostly of cold molecular hydrogen and dust, are being eroded by strong winds and punishing ultraviolet light from nearby hot young stars. Finger-like structures larger than the solar system protrude from the tips of the pillars. Embryonic stars can be embedded within these fingers. The tallest pillar spans three light-years, three-quarters of the distance between our sun and the next nearest star.

The film takes visitors through the three-dimensional structures of the pillars. Rather than an artistic rendering, the video is based on observational data from a scientific paper led by Anna McLeod, an associate professor at Durham University in the United Kingdom. McLeod also served as scientific advisor on the film project.

“The Pillars of Creation were always in our minds to create in 3D. The Webb data in combination with the Hubble data allowed us to see the Pillars in more complete detail,” said production manager Greg Bacon of STScI. “Understanding the science and how to best represent it allowed our small and talented team to rise to the challenge of visualizing this iconic structure.”

The new visualization helps viewers experience how two of the world’s most powerful space telescopes work together to provide a more complex and holistic portrait of the poles. Hubble sees objects that shine in visible light, at thousands of degrees. Webb’s infrared vision, which is sensitive to cooler objects with temperatures of only hundreds of degrees, pierces through the dark dust to see stars embedded in the pillars.

“When we combine observations from NASA’s space telescopes at different wavelengths of light, we expand our understanding of the universe,” said Mark Clampin, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “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.”

Produced for NASA by STScI with partners at Caltech/IPAC and developed by NASA’s AstroViz Learning Universe Project, the 3D visualization is part of a longer, narrated video that combines a direct link to the mission’s science and scientists of NASA Astrophysics with attention to the needs of an audience of youth, families and lifelong learners. It enables viewers to explore fundamental questions in science, experience how science is done, and discover the universe for themselves.

Several stages of star formation are highlighted in the visualization. As viewers approach the central pillar, they see at its top an embedded, baby protostar that glows bright red in infrared light. Near the top of the left column is a diagonal jet of material ejected from a newborn star. Although the plane is evidence of star birth, viewers cannot see the star itself. Finally, at the end of one of the prominent “fingers” of the left pillar is a brand new blazing star.

A bonus product from this visualization is a new 3D printable model of the Pillars of Creation. The basic model of the four pillars used in the visualization has been adapted to STL file format so that viewers can download the model file and print it on 3D printers. Examining the structure of the pillars in this tactile and interactive way adds new perspectives and insights to the overall experience.

More visualizations and connections between nebula science and students can be explored through other products produced by NASA’s Learning Universe, such as ViewSpace, a video exhibit currently running at nearly 200 museums and planetariums across the States. United. Visitors can go beyond videos to explore images produced by space telescopes with interactive tools now available to museums and planetariums.