Among Canadians and Americans of a certain
age who were lucky enough to grow up in schools
showing of Hubble work, there’s one image that
most will recognize: Pillars of Creation. he
nickname is dated in our more sensitive age, but
the 1995 picture is still mind-blowing. It showcas-
es huge towers of dust 7,000 light-years away in
the Eagle Nebula. Even a small child can spot the
newborn stars sparkling inside and outside of the
dust. Hubble revisited this iconic scene in 2014 to
see if anything had changed. (Spoiler alert: yes.)he pillars slightly shifted locations over 20
years, but defying some predictions, the winds
blowing of the regional stars did not destroy the
delicate structures. Hubble’s upgraded cameras
also showed us new things. With better infrared
capabilities, Hubble can see sources of heat, even
in obscuring dust. “he infrared allows you to see
through some of that dusty veil of those pillars,”
Wiseman said. “here are many more stars visible
in the image... those are ‘protostars’ that heat
up as they form.”While Wiseman said she is taken with the
astrophysical properties of star winds, part
of her also recognizes just how stunning a
scene Hubble captured.“It strikes a core within our humanity of
recognizing beauty, and recognizing activity,
and being humbled by the fact we are connected
to this universe in a very fundamental way.” •In 1995, Hubble
examined a cluster of
young stars embedded
in dust. The result-
ing image, nicknamed
“Pillars of Creation,”
became one of Hubble’s
most reproduced pic-
tures. The observatory
revisited the area in
2014 using updated in-
struments to see how
the pillars changed.
← Left: 1995: NASA,
ESA, STScI, J. Hester
and P. Scowen (Arizona
State University)
↙ Below left: 2014:
NASA, ESA, and the
Hubble Heritage Team
(STScI/AURA)
SKYNEWS • MAR/APR 2020