by Chris Peterson » Mon May 15, 2023 3:58 pm
Rauf wrote: ↑Mon May 15, 2023 3:52 pm
Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Mon May 15, 2023 2:27 pm
Rauf wrote: ↑Mon May 15, 2023 2:05 pm
Quoted from space.com:
Originally taken in 1995(opens in new tab) by the Hubble Space Telescope, the Pillars of Creation is one of the most iconic astronomical images of all time. Despite their notoriety, the pillars represent only a small part of the Eagle Nebula, measuring 4 to 5 light-years across, according to NASA.
https://www.space.com/16396-eagle-nebul ... ation.html
And from BBC sky magazine:
The pillars are regions of dark dust and gas contained within the Eagle Nebula that stretch about 5 lightyears long and hide embedded newborn stars from view.
You might not realise it if you look solely at Hubble's Pillars of Creation image in isolation, but they really only make up a small portion of the Eagle Nebula region.
https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/astr ... le-nebula/
Not true. The Eagle Nebula was named because of the visual appearance (through an eyepiece) of the section also called "The Pillars of Creation" long ago, before any of that other larger structure was even known. Calling the larger structure the Eagle Nebula is quite recent. Only that central part is visible through a telescope (identified by Messier as #16 in his catalog) and it does indeed look like an eagle visually. The large, diffuse nebula is is within is called IC4703, and that is not a visual nebula (and most certainly not with the small telescopes Messier and other early visual astronomers had available).
So regardless of how the unofficial term "Eagle Nebula" is currently used, the actual Eagle that gives it its name is the same structure as the Pillars.
So, umm, what should we call the larger nebula that engulfs the pillars of creation?
Officially, it is IC4703. Casually, the larger region is commonly called the Eagle these days. Most nebulas don't have names at all, just catalog numbers.
[quote=Rauf post_id=330998 time=1684165977 user_id=144493]
[quote="Chris Peterson" post_id=330993 time=1684160838 user_id=117706]
[quote=Rauf post_id=330992 time=1684159518 user_id=144493]
Quoted from space.com:
Originally taken in 1995(opens in new tab) by the Hubble Space Telescope, the Pillars of Creation is one of the most iconic astronomical images of all time. Despite their notoriety, the pillars represent only a small part of the Eagle Nebula, measuring 4 to 5 light-years across, according to NASA.
https://www.space.com/16396-eagle-nebula-m16-hubble-images-pillars-of-creation.html
And from BBC sky magazine:
The pillars are regions of dark dust and gas contained within the Eagle Nebula that stretch about 5 lightyears long and hide embedded newborn stars from view.
You might not realise it if you look solely at Hubble's Pillars of Creation image in isolation, but they really only make up a small portion of the Eagle Nebula region.
https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/astrophotography/nebulae/eagle-nebula/
[/quote]
Not true. The Eagle Nebula was named because of the visual appearance (through an eyepiece) of the section also called "The Pillars of Creation" long ago, before any of that other larger structure was even known. Calling the larger structure the Eagle Nebula is quite recent. Only that central part is visible through a telescope (identified by Messier as #16 in his catalog) and it does indeed look like an eagle visually. The large, diffuse nebula is is within is called IC4703, and that is not a visual nebula (and most certainly not with the small telescopes Messier and other early visual astronomers had available).
So regardless of how the unofficial term "Eagle Nebula" is currently used, the actual Eagle that gives it its name is the same structure as the Pillars.
[/quote]
So, umm, what should we call the larger nebula that engulfs the pillars of creation?
[/quote]
Officially, it is IC4703. Casually, the larger region is commonly called the Eagle these days. Most nebulas don't have names at all, just catalog numbers.