What it is is a nursery for stars wrapped inside a giant nebula some 7,000
light-years from Earth. The pillars are columns of cool interstellar hydrogen
gas and dust that double as incubators for new stars. The pillars have been
carved out and are illuminated by ultraviolet light coming from hot, massive
newborn stars that are unseen, above the top of the photo.
It was taken on April 1, 1995, and has appeared on the covers of religious
and philosophy magazines and was also a "star attraction" in People magazine,
Villard says.
Arizona State University astronomers Jeff Hester and Paul Scowen are responsible
for the photo. As Hester tells it, pictures like this can be years in the making.
"As a graduate student, a friend of mine and I were observing at the 2.1-meter
telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory," Hester explains.
"One Sunday afternoon we were walking around on the catwalk that circles the
dome, maybe 30 feet above the ground, when a bunch of tourists wandered by.
One looked up and saw us, and shouted up the obvious question, 'Hey, how did
you guys get up there?' My friend, who had a quicker wit than I on the occasion,
immediately answered, 'Years and years of hard work.'"
Likewise, before you haul off and snap at something with Hubble, you do years
of research and ground-based observations. Then you apply for telescope time,
and then you wait your turn.
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