M16  Eagle Nebula in Serpens Cauda

The Eagle Nebula became famous when the Hubble Space Telescope captured its famous photograph "Stellar Nusuries". (The HST became famous too!)

This object is 14 light years across! By comparison, our solar system is about 4.5 light hours as measured from the Sun to Pluto.

 
 C11 SCT F6.3 40 min exposure on Kodak Max 800


Central Core of the Eagle also known as "The Pillars of Creation"
C14 at F3.3, ST7, 20 m Lum, 10m RGB

We estimate the object to be 5 to 6 million years old and 5900 light years distant.