The Eagle Nebula

The Eagle Nebula, also known as Messier 16 (M16), can be found in our own Milky Way galaxy in the Serpens constellation. It was a cluster of stars surrounded by clouds of hydrogen gas and dust. It was a cluster, as opposed to is, because the nebula was actually destroyed by a supernova approximately 6,000 years ago. Since the light from the supernova will take some time to reach Earth, one can still view the Eagle Nebula through a telescope. However, the nebula will only be visible for another 1,000 years before it disappears forever. Before its unfortunate demise, the Eagle Nebula was a breeding ground for new stars. These new stars would form out of the clouds of dust and gas and begin its life as a young member of the stellar cluster. Over time, the stars age and must eventually die. The region where the Eagle Nebula was located is surrounded by these much older stars on the brink of their own destruction. If a star is big enough, when it dies out it will do so in the form of a massive explosion, known as a supernova. It was indeed one of these stars that spelled doom for the Eagle Nebula.

In the above image, the color appears through a process of creating a false-color image. This certainly makes the image more pleasing to the eye, but also gives insight to properties of the nebula. By colorizing the image, one can see more definite features of the nebula that cannot normally be seen with the human eye. The blue area of the image is the core of the gaseous clouds, with young stars surrounding it. The blue fades into a deep red/black as the clouds are much more stretched and thinned out. As a whole, the Eagle Nebula was a striking feature. So enjoy the view while it lasts!