James Webb Telescope captures stunning image of ‘Pillars of Creation,’ replicating famous Hubble photo

The James Webb Space Telescope  of NASA has taken another stunning photo—this time capturing the famous "Pillars of Creation" where new stars are forming in dense clouds of gas and dust. All this beauty is located in the Eagle Nebula, about 6,500 light years from Earth.

In the picture, the "Pillars of Creation" look like huge rock formations. But they are not actually rocks, but cold interstellar gas and dust that sometimes appear translucent under the near-infrared spectrum. According to NASA experts, this is where new stars are formed.

The "Pillars of Creation" were first photographed by the Hubble telescope in 1995. In 2014, the telescope took another picture of them (left), in which the image was clearer and wider in visible light. The James Webb image (right) was taken in near-infrared light and, unlike the Hubble image, provides a view of the environment beyond the dust in this star-forming region. The brown columns of dust are no longer so opaque, and there are many red stars in the field of view, which are still forming.

Studying these two images can help scientists better understand the processes of star formation, as well as more accurately determine the amount—by cosmic standards—of stars, gas, and dust recently formed in this region. Over time, scientists will be able to learn more about how new stars form over millions of years and how they emerge from these dust clouds.

It is possible that the "Pillars of Creation" no longer exist today. It is believed that a supernova explosion took place near this area about 6,000 years ago, and the "Pillars" changed beyond recognition, and new stars stopped forming in them. But since they are almost 7,000 light-years away from us, people from Earth will only be able to see what happened there in 1,000 years, when the light from the "Pillars of Creation" reaches the Solar System.