Eagle Nebula

Modern estimates place Messier 16 at about 7,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Serpens Cauda. Older estimates in the 1990s suggested 6,500-7,000 light-years. It was catalogued by Charles Messier in 1764, though the Pillars themselves were not identified until much later.

The famous Hubble Space Telescope image was captured in April 1995 by astronomers Jeff Hester and Paul Scowen of Arizona State University. It was a finalist for Astronomy Picture of the Year and has appeared on US postage stamps. Hubble revisited the region in 2014 with a higher-resolution near-infrared image.

A 2007 study led by Nicolas Flagey suggested a shock wave from a nearby supernova may have already destroyed the Pillars 6,000 years ago. Because they are roughly 7,000 light-years away, we would not yet know of the destruction from Earth's vantage point. The Spitzer Space Telescope data supported this interpretation.

The Eagle Nebula is an H II emission nebula, a cloud of ionized hydrogen surrounding hot young O-type stars in the open cluster NGC 6611. The cluster's stellar winds sculpt the gas into the tower and pillar shapes seen in Hubble imagery. Star formation continues inside the dense dust cores.