1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,000 The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has revisited one of its most iconic and popular images: 2 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:12,000 the Eagle Nebula’s Pillars of Creation. 3 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:18,000 This time Hubble has not just one image for us, but two: 4 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:29,000 alongside the new visible-light image the telescope used infrared light to produce a second breathtaking picture of the region. 5 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:36,000 Between them these images show the pillars in more detail than ever before. 6 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:56,000 Episode 82: A new view of the Pillars of Creation 7 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:08,000 In 1995, Hubble viewed three towering spires of gas, dust, and newly forming stars within the Eagle Nebula, 8 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:12,000 creating an image that was dubbed the Pillars of Creation. 9 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:31,000 Hubble has observed various parts of this big nebula on different occasions throughout the years, 10 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:36,000 capturing dramatic views of its cold, dark hydrogen clouds, 11 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:44,000 energetic young stars, and bauble-like stellar clusters. 12 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:54,000 Now, a new Hubble image shows the region in unprecedented detail. 13 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,000 Capturing the multi-coloured glow of gas clouds, 14 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:10,000 wispy tendrils of dark cosmic dust, and the rust-coloured elephants’ trunks of the nebula’s famous pillars. 15 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:24,000 The dust and gas in the pillars is seared by the intense radiation from young stars and eroded by strong winds from massive nearby stars. 16 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:39,000 With these new images comes better contrast and a clearer view for astronomers to study how the structure of the pillars is changing over time. 17 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:49,000 The new image captures almost exactly the same region as shown in 1995, 18 00:02:49,000 --> 00:03:00,000 but uses a newer camera, installed in 2009, to capture light from glowing oxygen, hydrogen and sulphur with greater clarity. 19 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:12,000 Hubble also has an additional New Year treat for us; 20 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:17,000 the telescope gazed at the same area in infrared light, 21 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:27,000 allowing it to pierce through the obscuring dust and gas and unveil a more unfamiliar — but just as amazing — view of the pillars. 22 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:45,000 In this ethereal view the entire frame is peppered with bright stars, and baby stars are revealed as they form within the pillars themselves. 23 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:56,000 The ghostly outlines of the pillars seem much more delicate when seen like this, and are silhouetted against an eerie blue haze. 24 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:04,000 There have been other infrared views of the region in the past. 25 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:17,000 In 2012 ESA’s Herschel produced an infrared image, which has been combined with an X-ray view from the XMM-Newton Space Observatories, 26 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:24,000 to reveal the nebula’s hot inner stars, and their effect on their surroundings, in a soup of colour. 27 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:35,000 The European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope captured a ground-based version of the pure infrared image in 2001. 28 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:49,000 But although the VLT image covers a somewhat larger area, this new Hubble image is sharper and reveals much finer details. 29 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:58,000 These two new images highlight how different the Universe can look when observed in different types of light. 30 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:05,000 And, how Hubble has evolved over time to bring us images with greater clarity for better science. 31 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:11,000 As it enters its 25th year, Hubble is still going strong. 32 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:22,000 Hubblecast is produced by ESA/Hubble at the European Southern Observatory in Germany. 33 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:26,000 The Hubble mission is a project of international collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency.