Eagle Nebula

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Eagle Nebula
A view of the "Spire" within M16, the Eagle Nebula.

A view of the "Spire" within M16, the Eagle Nebula.

Courtesy of NASA/ESA
Observation data: J2000.0 epoch
Type Emission
Right ascension 18h 18m 48s[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 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 greatly improved our understanding of processes inside the nebula. Eagle nebula's region known as "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 famous 'Pillars of Creation' 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]

[edit] In fiction

See Eagle Nebula in fiction.
The "Pillars of Creation" from the Eagle Nebula, Courtesy of NASA/ESA
The "Pillars of Creation" from the Eagle Nebula, Courtesy of NASA/ESA
Detail of Hubble image. 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
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

[edit] External links

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[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d SIMBAD Astronomical Database. Results for NGC 6611. Retrieved on 2006-11-16.
  2. ^ Spitzer Captures Cosmic "Mountains Of Creation"