Pillars of Creation shines in new visualization from NASA’s Hubble and Webb telescopes

The Pillars of Creation at the heart of the Eagle Nebula, made famous in 1995 by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, have captured the imagination of the world with their arresting, ethereal beauty.

Now, NASA has released a new 3D visualization of these towering celestial structures using data from NASA’s Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes. It’s the most comprehensive and detailed multi-wavelength movie yet of these stellar clouds.

“By flying past and between the pillars, viewers experience their three-dimensional structure and see how they look different in Hubble’s visible light versus Webb’s infrared light,” explains lead visualization scientist Frank Summers of the Space Telescope Science Institute. (STScI) in Baltimore, who led the film development team for NASA’s Universe of Learning. “The contrast helps them understand why we have more than one space telescope to observe different aspects of the same object.”

The Four Pillars of Creation, composed primarily of cool molecular hydrogen and dust, are being eroded by the fierce winds and destructive ultraviolet light from nearby hot, young stars. Finger-like structures larger than the solar system protrude from the tops of the pillars. These fingers may contain embryonic stars. The tallest pillar extends over three light-years, three-quarters of the distance between our sun and the nearest star.

The film takes visitors into the three-dimensional structures of the pillars. Rather than an artistic interpretation, the video is based on observational data from a scientific paper led by Anna McLeod, associate professor at the University of Durham in the United Kingdom. McLeod also served as a scientific advisor on the film project.

“It was always our intention to create the Pillars of Creation in 3D. Webb data combined with Hubble data allowed us to view the Pillars in more detail,” said STScI production manager Greg Bacon. “Understanding the science and how to best represent it allowed our small, talented team to rise to the challenge of visualizing this iconic structure.”

The new visualization helps viewers experience how two of the world’s most powerful space telescopes work together to provide a more complex and holistic portrait of the pillars. Hubble sees objects glowing in visible light, at thousands of degrees. Webb’s infrared vision, which is sensitive to cooler objects with temperatures as low as hundreds of degrees, penetrates obscuring dust to see stars embedded in the pillars.

“When we combine observations from NASA’s space telescopes across different wavelengths of light, we broaden our understanding of the universe,” said Mark Clampin, Astrophysics Division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The Pillars of Creation region continues to provide us with new insights that sharpen our understanding of star formation. Now, with this new visualization, everyone can experience this rich, compelling landscape in a new way.”

The 3D visualization, produced for NASA by STScI with partners at Caltech/IPAC, and developed by the AstroViz Project of NASA’s Universe of Learning, is part of a longer, narrated video that provides a direct connection to the science and scientists of NASA’s astrophysics missions with attention to the needs of an audience of youth, families and lifelong learners. It allows viewers to investigate fundamental questions in science, experience how science is done and discover the universe itself.

The visualization highlights different stages of star formation. As viewers approach the central pillar, they will see an embedded young protostar at the top that glows bright red in infrared light. Near the top of the left pillar, a diagonal jet of material is ejected from a newborn star. Although the jet is evidence of the birth of a star, viewers cannot see the star itself. Finally, at the end of one of the protruding “fingers” of the left pillar is a flaming, brand new star.

A bonus product from this visualization is a new 3D printable model of the Pillars of Creation. The basic model of the four pillars used in the visualization has been adapted to the STL file format, allowing viewers to download the model file and print it on 3D printers. By exploring the structure of the pillars in this tactile and interactive way, new perspectives and insights are added to the overall experience.

More visualizations and connections between the science of nebulae and students can be explored through other products produced by NASA’s Universe of Learning, such as ViewSpace, a video exhibit currently in nearly 200 museums and planetariums across the United States. Visitors can go beyond video and explore the images produced by space telescopes with interactive tools now available for museums and planetariums.