                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2022 September 25

                          The Fairy of Eagle Nebula
       Image Credit: Image Credit: NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team
                                (STScI/AURA)

   Explanation: The dust sculptures of the Eagle Nebula are evaporating.
   As powerful starlight whittles away these cool cosmic mountains, the
   statuesque pillars that remain might be imagined as mythical beasts.
   Featured here is one of several striking dust pillars of the Eagle
   Nebula that might be described as a gigantic alien fairy. This fairy,
   however, is ten light years tall and spews radiation much hotter than
   common fire. The greater Eagle Nebula, M16, is actually a giant
   evaporating shell of gas and dust inside of which is a growing cavity
   filled with a spectacular stellar nursery currently forming an open
   cluster of stars. This great pillar, which is about 7,000 light years
   away, will likely evaporate away in about 100,000 years. The featured
   image is in scientifically re-assigned colors and was taken by the
   Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope.

                   Tomorrow's picture: earth without water
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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