Enjoying a frozen treat on a hot summer day can leave a sticky mess as it melts in the Sun and deforms. In the cold vacuum of space, there is no edible ice cream, but there is radiation from massive stars that is carving away at cold molecular clouds, creating bizarre, fantasy-like structures.
These one-light-year-tall pillars of cold hydrogen and dust, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope, are located in the Carina Nebula. Violent stellar winds and powerful radiation from massive stars are sculpting the surrounding nebula. Inside the dense structures, new stars may be born.
This image of dust pillars in the Carina Nebula is a composite of 2005 observations taken of the region in hydrogen light (light emitted by hydrogen atoms) along with 2010 observations taken in oxygen light (light emitted by oxygen atoms), both times with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The immense Carina Nebula is an estimated 7,500 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Project (STScI/AURA);Acknowledgment: M. Livio (STScI) and N. Smith (University of California, Berkeley)
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Carina Nebula Pillar |
| Object Description | Carina Nebula Star-Forming Pillars |
| R.A. Position | 10h 43m 59.99s |
| Dec. Position | -59° 35' 0.0" |
| Constellation | Carina |
| Distance | 7,500 light-years (2,300 parsecs) |
| Dimensions | This image is 5 arcminutes (11.4 light-years or 3.5 parsecs) wide. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | This image was created from HST data from proposals : M. Livio, K. Noll, M. Mutchler, Z. Levay, L. Frattare, W. Januszewski, C. Christian, and T. Borders (Hubble 20th Anniversary Team, STScI); and : N. Smith (University of California, Berkeley), J. Bally (University of Colorado, Boulder), N. Walborn (STScI), and J. Morse (NASA/GSFC). |
| Instrument | HST>ACS/WFC |
| Exposure Dates | July 17, 2005, and February 1-2, 2010 |
| Filters | F658N (H-alpha+[N II]) and F502N ([O III]) |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | These images are composites of separate exposures made by the ACS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Each filter was used to sample a narrow wavelength range. The composite colors result from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Yellow/gold: F658N (H-alpha+[N II]) Cyan: F502N ([O III]) |
| Compass Image |  |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
