Yesterday, NASA released an updated view of the iconic picture originally taken by the Hubble space telescope in 1995. Using an updated camera installed in 2009, Hubble was able to capture the magnificent structures in an even greater amount of detail.
The pillars have been presented as a ‘nursery of stars’ – the dust constitutes the raw material that slowly collapses into stars and planetary systems. A new infrared shot of the same region pierces behind the dust curtain and literally shines a new light on just how much is hapenning behind the scenes. Young stars blow their surroundings away as soon as they start radiating heat and solar winds.
Although the original image was dubbed the “Pillars of Creation”, this new image hints that they are also pillars of destruction. The dust and gas in these pillars is seared by intense radiation from the young stars forming within them, and eroded by strong winds from massive nearby stars. The ghostly bluish haze around the dense edges of the pillars in the visible-light view is material that is being heated by bright young stars and evaporating away.
You may download the picture in a variety of sizes (from ~300KB to a whopping 114MB in full resolution) on this page.