The Eagle Nebula, AlBroxton

The Eagle Nebula

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

The Eagle Nebula (catalogued as Messier 16 or M16, and as NGC 6611) is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens, discovered by Jean-Philippe de Cheseaux in 1745-46. Its name derives from its shape which is resemblant of an eagle. It is the subject of the famous "Pillars of Creation" photograph by the Hubble Space Telescope, which shows pillars of star-forming gas and dust within the nebula. The Eagle Nebula is part of a diffuse emission nebula, or H II region, which is catalogued as IC 4703. This region of active current star formation is about 6,500 light-years distant. The tower of gas that can be seen coming off the nebula is approximately 100 trillion km (60 trillion miles) high. The brightest star in the nebula has an apparent magnitude of +8.24, easily visible with good binoculars.

Comments

Revisions

  • The Eagle Nebula, AlBroxton
    Original
  • Final
    The Eagle Nebula, AlBroxton
    B

Histogram

The Eagle Nebula, AlBroxton

In these collections

Allen Broxton