What is the name of Hubble’s iconic image of the Eagle Nebula?

Hubble’s iconic image of the Eagle Nebula is called the Pillars of Creation. It shows towering columns of gas and dust in the star-forming region of the Eagle Nebula, also known as Messier 16, in the constellation Serpens.

The original image was taken in 1995 by astronomers Jeff Hester and Paul Scowen using Hubble’s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. The pillars are made largely of cold molecular hydrogen and dust. Ultraviolet radiation from nearby young, massive stars erodes the clouds, while denser knots inside them can shelter material where new stars form.

The name describes both the columns’ appearance and their role as stellar nurseries. The image is often confused with the Eagle Nebula itself, but the nebula is the much larger astronomical object; the Pillars of Creation are a famous region within it. Hubble photographed the scene again in 2014, and the James Webb Space Telescope produced an infrared view in 2022.