Icon Eagle nebula pillars, public domain photograph

The Pillars of Creation are a famous astronomical feature located in the Eagle Nebula, a cloud of interstellar gas and dust in the constellation Serpens. The Pillars of Creation are massive pillars of gas and dust that are thought to be the site of ongoing star formation. The Pillars of Creation were first observed and photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995, and the image quickly became iconic. The Pillars of Creation are considered a stunning example of the beauty and complexity of the universe, and they continue to be studied by astronomers today. The three-dimensional pillars look like majestic rock formations but are far more permeable. These columns are made up of cool interstellar gas and dust that appear – at times – semi-transparent in near-infrared light. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured a lush, highly detailed landscape – the iconic Pillars of Creation – where new stars are forming within dense clouds of gas and dust. Webb’s new view of the Pillars of Creation, which were first made famous when imaged by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in 1995, will help researchers revamp their models of star formation by identifying far more precise counts of newly formed stars, along with the quantities of gas and dust in the region. Over time, they will begin to build a clearer understanding of how stars form and burst out of these dusty clouds over millions of years.