M16 -- "Close up on a Stellar Maternity Ward"
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This incredible color image was made from three black and white pictures 
taken
with the HST.  It shows a region where stars are being born deep inside a 
giant
cloud of gas and dust  known as M16, or the Eagle Nebula, about 7,000 light
years from earth.  New stars are forming inside each of these pillar-like
structures where the density of gas and dust has been high enough to allow
gravity to collapse and heat up these regions.  When central temperatures at
spots within the pillars exceed a few million degrees, a star is born at each
spot.  Gradually, the pressure of light from other stars outside the 
pillars is
blowing the enshrouding dust away (eroding the pillars) and revealing the
infant
stars within.
<p align="center"><img src="images/copyright.gif" width="300" height="28"></p>
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