Key facts
- Category
- Nebulae
- Object class
- Emission nebula
- Host
- Milky Way
- Scale fact
- 70 lymaximum extent
- Composition
- Ionized hydrogen, molecular gas, dust, embedded star cluster
- Temperature
- ~10,000 K ionized gas
Eagle Nebula
70 lymaximum extent
Details
The Eagle Nebula is a young star-forming region in the Milky Way best known for the Pillars of Creation, towering columns of cold gas and dust sculpted by intense radiation from nearby massive stars. Beyond the famous pillars, it is a broad active nebula whose embedded cluster is steadily reshaping the surrounding cloud.
The Eagle Nebula is an emission nebula and star-forming molecular cloud containing the young cluster NGC 6611. Ultraviolet radiation and winds from its massive stars ionize the exposed gas and erode denser material around the cluster.
The Pillars of Creation are columns of comparatively cold gas and dust surviving inside that radiation field. Embedded young stars exist in and around the pillars, but the same radiation that reveals their environment is also dispersing the material from which additional stars could form.
Links
- Editorial guides
- Universe journey
- Orion Arm
- Preset views
- Wikipedia
- Eagle Nebula on Wikipedia
Size neighbors
Objects near Eagle Nebula on the scale
On the logarithmic size axis, Eagle Nebula falls between Orion Nebula and Omega Centauri. The band uses nearby Emission nebula records.
Shared physical scale
53.5ly
Sources
References for Eagle Nebula
Measurements and descriptive context are compiled by the Scale of Space team from the references below. If you find an error, please let us know.
- Eagle Nebula — Wikipedia
- Visual reference: Wikimedia Commons (La Silla Observatory 2009 / ESO, CC BY 4.0)
Continue with nearby objects or open the full scale.
About
Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.
Guides explain selected parts of that range, while focused views filter the objects by subject.