Image 5-24
Eagle Nebula

This Hubble Space Telescope imahe shows a billowing tower of cold gas and dust rising from a stellar nursery in the Eagle Nebula. This soaring tower is 9.5 light-years or about 57 trillion miles high. That is about twice the distance from our Sun to the next nearest star. Stars in the Eagle Nebula are born in clouds of cold hydrogen gas. Energy from young stars sculpts the gas into fantastic landscapes. This tower is thought to be a giant incubator for newborn stars. The light from these stars is responsible for illuminating the tower's rough surface.