Characteristics of the Pillars of Creation
Hubble revisited the Pillars of Creation in 2015 and took this updated, visible-light view of the structure. Image credit: NASA/ESA
The Pillars of Creation are composed primarily of molecular hydrogen, the main ingredient in star formation. Interestingly, the Pillars themselves are actually being eroded by the stars forming within them. The Pillars contain an abundance of young, high-mass stars that emit vast amounts of ultraviolet radiation. This process of evaporation through light is called photoevaporation. Just looking at the pictures of the Pillars, it’s hard to tell how big they are. The pillar on the far left is estimated to be four light-years long. If our sun were placed at the bottom of this pillar, the structure would extend almost to the nearest star to our sun, Proxima Centauri.
Are the Pillars still there?
Image of the Pillars of Creation taken in infrared. Image credit: NASA/ESA
Since the Pillars of Creation are 7,000 light years away, we see them as they were 7,000 years ago. The speed of light is the fastest known thing in the universe, yet this speed is still finite, so it takes time for light from a destination to reach our eyes. So some objects in space are so far away that, although we can see them, they may not actually exist anymore. This may apply to the Pillars of Creation. Images from the Spitzer Space Telescope have revealed the shock wave from a nearby supernova that appears to be moving toward the Pillars. Based on the speed of the shock wave, astronomers estimate that it may have destroyed the Pillars of Creation 6,000 years ago, so their destruction will be visible in about 1,000 years.
Aidan Remple August 1, 2022 in Science
