Eagle Nebula

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For an object in the constellation of Canis Major also called Eagle nebula, see Seagull Nebula.

Observation data: J2000.0 epoch
Eagle Nebula
A view of the "Spire" within M16, the Eagle Nebula. Courtesy of NASA/ESA
Type	Emission
Right ascension	18^h 18^m 48^s^[1]
Declination	-13° 49′^[1]
Distance	7,000 ly
Apparent magnitude (V)	+6.0^[1]
Apparent dimensions (V)	7.0arcmins
Constellation	Serpens
Physical characteristics
Radius	70×55 ly (cluster 15 ly)
Absolute magnitude (V)	-8.21
Notable features	5.5 million years old
Other designations	Messier 16, NGC 6611,^[1], Sharpless 49, RCW 165, Gum 83
See also: Diffuse nebula, Lists of nebulae
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The "Pillars of Creation" from the Eagle Nebula. Courtesy of NASA/ESA

Detail of Hubble image. Courtesy of NASA/ESA

Detail of Hubble image. Original image courtesy of NASA/ESA with custom enriched detail, different colours and filled black space in the upper-right corner

An infrared view of the pillars reveals different structures. CreditESO

The Eagle Nebula (also known as Messier Object 16, M16 or NGC 6611), perhaps one of the most famous and easily recognized space objects, is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens, discovered by Jean-Philippe de Cheseaux in 1745-46. It is associated with a diffuse emission nebula, or H II region, which is catalogued as IC 4703. This region of active current star formation is about 7,000 light-years distant. The brightest star in the nebula has an apparent magnitude of 8.24, easily visible with good binoculars.

Images made in 1995 by the Hubble Space Telescope greatly improved our understanding of processes inside the nebula. The region of the Eagle Nebula known as the "Pillars of Creation" is a large region of star formation. Its small dark areas are believed to be protostars. The pillar structure of the region resembles that of another, much larger star formation region, imaged by Spitzer Space Telescope in 2005 in Cassiopeia, which is designated W5 and usually called "Mountains of Creation".^[2]

Combination of an X-ray image from the Chandra observatory with Hubble's Pillars image have shown that X-ray sources (from young stars) do not coincide with the pillars, instead randomly dotting the area.^[1] This suggests that star formation may have peaked approximately one million years ago in the Eagle Nebula and any protostars in the pillar EGGs are not yet hot enough to emit X-rays.^{[citation needed]}

In early 2007 scientists using the Spitzer discovered evidence that the Pillars were likely destroyed by a supernova explosion about 6,000 years ago, but the light showing the new shape of the nebula will not reach Earth for another millennium.^[3]