NASA has released a stunning 3D video showing what it would be like to fly through the famous “Pillars of Creation” nebula.
The first images of the nebula, located about 6,500 light-years from Earth, were captured by the Hubble Space Telescope and released in 1995.
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The old Hubble Space Telescope was joined by the $10 billion James Webb Telescope, which is widely considered the most powerful telescope ever built.
The James Webb Telescope, launched on Christmas Day 2021, managed to capture even more vivid images of the nebula.
NASA has now combined Hubble and Webb data to create a breathtaking 3D rendition of a flight through the nebula.
What is the Hubble Space Telescope?
Here’s what you need to know…
- The Hubble Space Telescope is a telescope that captures images while in space
- It was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and is still fully operational
- The advantage of Hubble is that it takes photos from outside the Earth’s atmosphere
- This means that atmospheric distortion is removed, allowing for more accurate image capture.
- NASA’s Hubble captured some of the most detailed images of space ever recorded
- The Hubble telescope was also able to accurately determine the expansion rate of the universe.
- Hubble is also the only telescope designed to be serviced by astronauts in space
- Five different missions were launched to repair, upgrade or replace parts of the Hubble Telescope
- It is believed that the Hubble telescope could continue operating until 2040
- But its successor – the James Webb Space Telescope – already launched in December 2021
‘Elephant Trunks’
The “Pillars of Creation” exist within the great Eagle Nebula, a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens, which was discovered sometime between 1745 and 1746.
Although it looks angelic, the nebula is actually made up of enormous amounts of interstellar gas and dust.
For context, the Eagle Nebula is about 90 trillion kilometers long.
All these “chunks” come together to form these gigantic formations of interstellar matter, known as elephant trunks.
But because nebulae are made of dust, they are constantly worn down by strong interstellar winds and ultraviolet radiation.
Although they were first pictured in 1995, the “Pillars of Creation” were first discovered in 1920.
It was spotted by American astronomer John Charles Duncan more than 100 years ago while using the 60-inch telescope at the Mount Wilson Observatory.
The Eagle Nebula is so gigantic that it can even be seen through a small telescope or binoculars when conditions are right.
The best time to view it is in July.
However, it certainly won’t be the same view that NASA provided in the video above.
Everything you need to know about the planets in our solar system
Our solar system is made up of nine planets, with Earth being the third closest to the Sun. But each planet has its own peculiarities, so find out more about them all…
- How old is the Earth? Plus other facts about our planet
- How many moons does Mercury have?
- What color is Venus?
- How far is Mars from Earth? And other facts about the red planet
- How big is Jupiter?
- How many moons does Saturn have?
- Does Uranus have rings?
- How many moons does Neptune have?
- How big is Pluto?
- How hot is the Sun?
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
