Pillars of strength

CAPTURED: 5 JANUARY 2015

One of Hubble’s most iconic images, the Eagle Nebula’s Pillars of Creation unveils the multicoloured glow of gas clouds interspersed with wispy tendrils of dark cosmic dust. Originally captured in April 1995 (see inset), the new image was released almost 20 years later. It captures more detail on the rust-coloured elephant trunks of the nebula’s legendary pillars. The dust and gas in these is seared by the radiation from nearby young stars. The nebula is 7,000 lightyears away.