Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Serpens (Ser)  ·  Contains:  Eagle Nebula  ·  IC 4703  ·  M 16  ·  NGC 6611  ·  Sh2-49  ·  Star Queen  ·  Star Queen nebula
M16 in Hubble pallette, Geoff
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M16 in Hubble pallette

M16 in Hubble pallette, Geoff
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M16 in Hubble pallette

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Description

This image uses the standard Hubble Palette:

SII -> R

Ha -> G

OIII ->B

M16, known as the Eagle Nebula is part of a diffuse emission nebula, or H II region. This region of active current star formation is about 7000 light-years distant. The spire of gas that can be seen coming off the nebula in the northeastern part is approximately 9.5 light-years or about 90 trillion kilometers long.

The brightest star in the nebula (HD 168076) has an apparent magnitude of +8.24, easily visible with good binoculars. It is actually a binary star formed of an O3.5V star plus an O7.5V companion.

The cluster associated with the nebula has approximately 460 stars, the brightest of spectral class O, a mass of roughly 80 solar masses, and a luminosity up to 1 million times that of the Sun. Its age has been estimated to be 1–2 million years.

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  • M16 in Hubble pallette, Geoff
    Original
  • Final
    M16 in Hubble pallette, Geoff
    B

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M16 in Hubble pallette, Geoff