New Look at Starbirth

The Pillars of Creation, made famous by Hubble Space Telescope, billow around young and embryonic stars in this new view from James Webb Space Telescope. The pillars are towering clouds of gas and dust. The Webb image was shot at infrared wavelengths, which see the newly forming stars through the dust. As new stars are born they produce strong jets of hot gas from their poles. They zap some of the material around them, forming some of the bright red glowing regions at the edges of some of the pillars. Radiation and winds from hot, massive stars blow away some of the gas and dust, helping to sculpt the pillars. That also blows away the material for making even more stars, slowing down this busy stellar nursery. [NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI]