|
|
|
|
|
Hubble shows stellar spire in the Eagle Nebula SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE INSTITUTE NEWS RELEASE Posted: April 25, 2005
Stars in the Eagle Nebula are born in clouds of cold hydrogen gas that reside in chaotic neighborhoods, where energy from young stars sculpts fantasy-like landscapes in the gas. The tower may be a giant incubator for those newborn stars. A torrent of ultraviolet light from a band of massive, hot, young stars [off the top of the image] is eroding the pillar. The starlight also is responsible for illuminating the tower's rough surface. Ghostly streamers of gas can be seen boiling off this surface, creating the haze around the structure and highlighting its three-dimensional shape. The column is silhouetted against the background glow of more distant gas. The edge of the dark hydrogen cloud at the top of the tower is resisting erosion, in a manner similar to that of brush among a field of prairie grass that is being swept up by fire. The fire quickly burns the grass but slows down when it encounters the dense brush. In this celestial case, thick clouds of hydrogen gas and dust have survived longer than their surroundings in the face of a blast of ultraviolet light from the hot, young stars. Inside the gaseous tower, stars may be forming. Some of those stars may have been created by dense gas collapsing under gravity. Other stars may be forming due to pressure from gas that has been heated by the neighboring hot stars. The first wave of stars may have started forming before the massive star cluster began venting its scorching light. The star birth may have begun when denser regions of cold gas within the tower started collapsing under their own weight to make stars. The bumps and fingers of material in the center of the tower are examples of these stellar birthing areas. These regions may look small but they are roughly the size of our solar system. The fledgling stars continued to grow as they fed off the surrounding gas cloud. They abruptly stopped growing when light from the star cluster uncovered their gaseous cradles, separating them from their gas supply. Ironically, the young cluster's intense starlight may be inducing star formation in some regions of the tower. Examples can be seen in the large, glowing clumps and finger-shaped protrusions at the top of the structure. The stars may be heating the gas at the top of the tower and creating a shock front, as seen by the bright rim of material tracing the edge of the nebula at top, left. As the heated gas expands, it acts like a battering ram, pushing against the darker cold gas. The intense pressure compresses the gas, making it easier for stars to form. This scenario may continue as the shock front moves slowly down the tower. The dominant colors in the image were produced by gas energized by the star cluster's powerful ultraviolet light. The blue color at the top is from glowing oxygen. The red color in the lower region is from glowing hydrogen. The Eagle Nebula image was taken in November 2004 with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. |
|
|
|
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
The Expedition 10 crew hands command of the International Space Station to the Expedition 11 crew in this ceremony staged in the Destiny module on April 22. (1min 49sec file)
Michael Griffin, NASA's new administrator, holds his first news conference from agency headquarters to discuss shuttle return to flight, exploration plans and Hubble servicing. (46min 44sec file)
During his first day on the job, Michael Griffin, NASA's new administrator, addresses agency employees and answers questions on a variety of topics on April 14. (28min 50sec file)
Nominated to become the new administrator of NASA, Michael Griffin gives an opening statement to a Senate committee about his thoughts on the agency. (6min 38sec file)
Senators ask a wide range of questions to NASA administrator nominee Michael Griffin concerning the future exploration, the space shuttle and space station programs, Hubble servicing options and aeronautics funding. (27min 06sec file)
The Russian Soyuz TMA-6 capsule docks to the space station's Pirs module, delivering the Expedition 11 to the outpost for a half-year mission. (4min 15sec file)
The Russian Soyuz TMA-6 spacecraft is launched to put the International Space Station's Expedition 11 crew in Earth orbit.
Highlights of pre-flight work involving the redesigned external fuel tank for the space shuttle return to flight mission is packaged into this movie with narration. (6min 32sec file)