M16 - The Pillars of Creation

swag72

swag72

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Sara
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The middle of this image (the Pillars of Creation) is probably THE most iconic deep sky image ever done as it was released by Hubble a few years ago. To that end, how on earth is one supposed to compete with Hubble? :)

The Eagle Nebula (catalogued as Messier 16 or M16, and as NGC 6611, and also known as the Star Queen Nebula and The Spire) is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens, discovered by Jean-Philippe de Chéseaux in 1745-46. Both the "Eagle" and the "Star Queen" refer to visual impressions of the dark silhouette near the centre of the nebula, an area made famous as the "Pillars of Creation" photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope. The nebula contains several active star-forming gas and dust regions, including the Pillars of Creation.

This region of active current star formation is about 7000 light-years distant. A spire of gas that can be seen coming off the nebula is approximately 9.5 light-years or about 90 trillion kilometres long.

This is 22 hours of total exposure time, with each individual exposure being 30 minutes long.


M16 - The Pillars of creation in bi colour by Sara Wager, on Flickr

You can see more information about the image and a larger version on my website http://www.swagastro.com/m16.html
 
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I know you're not totally happy with the pillars
themselves as they exhibit too strong edges as
the rest of the nebulae does.

I am aware of the technical challenges and can
only be astonished at your meticulous work and
fully appreciate your effort. Chapeau Sara!
 
utterly awe inspiring...........(y)

snap aint to rough either.............:LOL::exit:
 
swag72 said:
To that end, how on earth is one supposed to compete with Hubble? :)
Click to expand...


A snip from somewhere else... "The costs of the Hubble Space Telescope have been estimated to be between $1.5 to $2.1 billion. Counting all the repairs and fixes since it was put in orbit since 1990, the total expense is around $10 billion." Just to throw some perspective onto the comparison!

Sara, for an "ordinary person" (albeit a very talented and patient one!) you images are outstanding. Hell, I'm happy with a reasonably sharp shot of the moon or a blurry one of the ISS or one that shows the moons or striations on Jupiter or (hopefully) the rings of Saturn and would be ecstatic with any of yours. Keep up the great work and keep sharing, please.
 
Thanks all for your comments and Nod for putting it into context!

@Kodiak Qc - Interesting as I didn't think that the central pillars and the edges were the problem..... I appreciate your thoughts :)
 
Excellent, truly breathtaking (y)
 
Once again words fail me, simply stunning.
 
No words to describe this but beautiful!
 
Amazing image, so many hours, your dedication to such imagery is mind boggling, ever thought of doing some kind of video on how you get these pictures, I'd love to know what you go through kit wise, outside?, you know just the run of the mill to how you get to here, nothing tech wise as such just kind of a blog.
 
Wow, first I've seen of your work and I'm blown away. Off to do some googling to find out more. That's a truly amazing image and gives me goose bumps when I read your description and remember how small we are.
 
Have you thought about trying to ping Brian Cox via Twitter? This stuff is AWE inspiring
 
swag72 said:
Thanks guys for looking and commenting. I've not tried to 'ping' Brian Cox on Twitter ....... I'm sure he wouldn't respond :)
Click to expand...
His loss, our gain.
Matt
 
Incredible. Nature is so beautiful, and you've grabbed a small slice of the best. You are an inspiration.
 
Laugh out loud excellent. Space - every time I think about it it absolutely blows my mind
 
( heads off to the classifieds to sell everything then sit in the corner of the room, rocking )

Outstanding and awe inspiring :clap: Your work makes what I think is a good shot a load of pants by comparison
 
Thanks guys for your continued comments and support - I guess a lot of these types of images are mind blowing in so many different ways, from the wide Milky Way shots to the really close in stuff. It's a great hobby!!!
 
Speechless - hope you are enlarging and hanging on the wall as large as you possibly can!
 
OMG, its so difficult or impossible to understand the scale of this / these images..

Bit further than Carlisle to London I reckon....

In total awe of the image and its meaning, and also in your work to produce it...........

Inspiring work :police::police::police::police::police::police:

Mj

(PS Thanks for the education)
 
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