Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2022 September 25
    [2]The featured image is of a long dust filament that appears dark in
     front of a lighter background. Please see the explanation for more
                            detailed information.

                          The Fairy of Eagle Nebula
     Image Credit: Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]The Hubble Heritage
                           Team ([6]STScI/[7]AURA)

   Explanation: The dust sculptures of the Eagle Nebula are evaporating.
   As powerful starlight whittles away these [8]cool cosmic mountains, the
   [9]statuesque pillars that remain might be imagined as [10]mythical
   beasts. Featured [11]here is one of [12]several striking dust pillars
   of the [13]Eagle Nebula that might be described as a gigantic alien
   [14]fairy. This fairy, however, is ten [15]light years tall and spews
   radiation much hotter than [16]common fire. The [17]greater Eagle
   Nebula, M16, is actually a giant evaporating shell of gas and [18]dust
   inside of which is a growing [19]cavity filled with a spectacular
   stellar nursery currently forming an [20]open cluster of stars. This
   great pillar, which is about 7,000 light years away, will [21]likely
   evaporate away in about 100,000 years. The [22]featured image is in
   scientifically [23]re-assigned colors and was taken by the
   Earth-orbiting [24]Hubble Space Telescope.

                   Tomorrow's picture: earth without water
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     __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: [36]Robert Nemiroff ([37]MTU) & [38]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([39]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [40]Specific rights apply.
              [41]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [42]ASD at [43]NASA / [44]GSFC,
                         [45]NASA Science Activation
                           & [46]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2209/FairyPillar_Hubble_3857.jpg
   3. https://www.nasa.gov/
   4. https://www.esa.int/
   5. http://heritage.stsci.edu/commonpages/infoindex/ourproject/moreproject.html
   6. http://www.stsci.edu/resources/
   7. https://www.aura-astronomy.org/
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap071226.html
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201206.html
  10. http://www.pantheon.org/areas/bestiary/
  11. https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/2005/12/1693-Image.html
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220314.html
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_Nebula
  14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairies
  15. https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180826.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140216.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap030706.html
  19. https://www.kidshealth.org/en/kids/cavity.html
  20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_cluster
  21. https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/06/26/how-quickly-are-the-pillars-of-creation-being-destroyed/
  22. https://hubblesite.org/news_release/news/2005-12
  23. http://bf-astro.com/hubblep.htm
  24. https://www.stsci.edu/hst/HST_overview/
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220924.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  34. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220925
  35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220926.html
  36. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  38. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  39. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  40. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  41. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  42. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  43. https://www.nasa.gov/
  44. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  45. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  46. http://www.mtu.edu/