The Pillars of Creation: A 3D Multiwavelength Exploration

This scientific visualization explores the iconic Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula using data from the Hubble and Webb Space Telescopes. Based on scientific results, astronomers and artists modeled this striking formation in three dimensions and created a movie that flies past and amongst the pillars. What looks like 3 pillars in a two-dimensional image separates into four dust clouds with ionized gas streaming away from each. As the virtual camera files through the model, the view shifts back and forth between the visible light and infrared light perspectives. Viewers gain an appreciation of the contrasting observations seen by Hubble and Webb, and how the telescopes complement each other by probing different scientific aspects of the clouds. The Pillars of Creation nickname derives from the fact that stars are forming within these dust clouds. The visual tour highlights various stages of star formation including an embedded protostar at the top of the central pillar, bipolar jets from a unseen forming star in the upper part of the left pillar, and a newborn star in the middle of the left pillar. This visualization is a product of the AstroViz Project of NASA’s Universe of Learning. A longer and explanatory visualization, including narration detailing the structures and science, is available as “The Pillars of Creation and the Interplay of Stars and Dust“.