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| | | | | | | A New View of an Icon
17 January 2012
| Combining almost opposite ends of the electromagnetic spectrum, this composite of the Herschel in far-infrared and XMM-Newton’s X-ray images shows how the hot young stars detected by the X-ray observations are sculpting and interacting with the surrounding ultra-cool gas and dust, which, at only a few degrees above absolute zero, is the critical material for star formation itself. Both wavelengths would be blocked by Earth’s atmosphere, so are critical to our understanding of the lifecycle of stars
Credits: far-infrared: ESA/Herschel/PACS/SPIRE/Hill, Motte, HOBYS Key Programme Consortium; X-ray: ESA/XMM-Newton/EPIC/XMM-Newton-SOC/Boulanger | |  |  | |
| | | | | This 1995 Hubble Space Telescope image of the ‘Pillars of Creation’ is probably the most famous astronomical image of the 20th Century. Taken in visible light using a combination of SII/H-alpha and OIII filters, it shows a part of the Eagle Nebula where new stars are forming. The tallest pillar is around 4 light-years high
Credits: NASA/ESA/STScI, Hester & Scowen (Arizona State University) | | | | |
| | | | | XMM-Newton’s images of the Eagle Nebula region in X-rays, which here is colour-coded to show different energy levels (red: 0.3–1 keV, green: 1–2 keV and blue: 2–8 keV) is helping astronomers to investigate a theory that the Eagle Nebula is being powered by a hidden supernova remnant. The researchers are looking for signs of very diffuse emission and how far this extends around the region. They believe that an absence of this X-ray emission beyond that found by previous orbiting space telescopes (Chandra and Spitzer) would support the supernova remnant theory. The work on this is continuing
Credits: ESA/XMM-Newton/EPIC/XMM-Newton-SOC/Boulanger | | | | |
| | | | | Messier 16 is a diffuse emission nebula that contains the young open cluster NGC6611. The iconic ‘Pillars of Creation’ image taken with the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995 is captured in near-infrared by the VLT, which penetrates straight through the obscuring gas and dust, rendering them almost invisible. The pillars are only a small portion of the extensive nebulous region imaged in far-infrared by ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory, which shows cool dust and gas tendrils being carved away by the hot stars seen in the X-ray image from XMM-Newton. The wide-field optical image from the ESO MPG telescope puts the pillars into context against the full scale of the nebula, which is over 75 light-years across
Credits: far-infrared: ESA/Herschel/PACS/SPIRE/Hill, Motte, HOBYS Key Programme Consortium; ESA/XMM-Newton/EPIC/XMM-Newton-SOC/Boulanger; optical: MPG/ESO;
near-infrared: VLT/ISAAC/McCaughrean & Andersen/AIP/ESO | | | | |
| | | | | The 8.2m-diameter VLT’s ANTU telescope imaged the famous Pillars of Creation region and its surroundings in near-infrared using the ISAAC instrument. This enabled astronomers to penetrate the obscuring dust in their search to detect newly formed stars. The research into the ‘evaporating gaseous globules’ (EGGs), which were first detected in the Hubble images, needed the near-infrared capabilities and resolution of the VLT to peel back the layers of dust and detect the low-mass young stars cocooned within the EGG shells. The near-infrared results showed that 11 of the 73 EGGs detected possibly contained stars, and that the tips of the pillars contain stars and nebulosity not seen in the Hubble image
Credits: VLT/ISAAC/McCaughrean & Andersen/AIP/ESO | | | | |
| | | | | This Herschel image of the Eagle Nebula, colour coded to 70 microns for blue and 160 microns for green using the PACS (Photodetector Array Camera) and 250 microns for red using the SPIRE (Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver) shows the self-emission of the intensely cold nebula’s gas and dust as never seen before. Each colour shows a different temperature of dust, from around 10 degrees above absolute zero (10K) for the red, up to around 40K for the blue. In the far–infrared, the nebula shows its intricate tendril nature, with vast cavities forming an almost cave-like surrounding to the famous pillars, which take on an ethereal ghostly appearance. The gas and dust provide the material for the star formation that is still under way inside this enigmatic nebula
Credits: ESA/Herschel/PACS/SPIRE/Hill, Motte, HOBYS Key Programme Consortium | | | | |
| | | | | Up to 1998 the ESA ISO (Infrared Space Observatory) was the most sensitive mid infrared telescope ever built. ISO observations were performed at 7 microns (and 15 microns, not shown) aiming to detect embedded sources in the pillars
Credits: ESA/ISO/Pilbratt et al. | | | | |
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| | More information Herschel overviewXMM-Newton overviewISO overviewOnline Showcase of Herschel Images OSHIHerschel on YouTube  Inside Herschel Herschel mission objectivesRelated articles Andromeda’s once and future starsRecipe for water: just add starlightHerschel and Planck win the French Grand PrixHerschel finds a hole in spaceXMM-Newton uncovers a celestial Rosetta stoneXMM-Newton discovers a new class of black holesGiant eruption reveals 'dead' starXMM-Newton exclusive photo: Messier 82Read more Observations: Seeing in infrared wavelengthsWhy infrared astronomy is a hot topicL2, the second Lagrangian PointHerschel first science results in depthHerschel in depthHerschel Science CentreXMM-Newton in-depth
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