Pillars of Destruction

Everyone has heard of the Pillars of Creation. These are the phalanges of nebulas that appear in the Eagle Nebula and are the location of new star formation. The now famous Hubble image has been shown everywhere.

Now, astronomers have found the exact opposite. The Pillars of Destruction (ten in all) are located in the Carina Nebula. Basically, these are vast clouds of dust and gas within a hub of star formation that lies 7500 light-years from Earth.

These observations were made with the MUSE instrument on the European's Space Organization's Very Large Telescope. Thousands of images were made at different wavelengths to reveal what's going on inside the nebula.

Part of what's happening in the Carina nebula is the formation of massive stars that literally blast out the dust and gas with ionizing radiation so strong they strip atoms of their electrons, essentially destroying the gas clouds that they were born in. These massive stars destroy any possibility of further star formation.

However, this may not be the case. It may be that the radiation and stellar winds blast gas into denser pockets that form stars.
The conditions that are necessary for star formation are not that well known. One thing that is known is that just gravity within a nebula will not form a star. It needs a kick in the gas, so to speak. A nearby supernova explosion could supply this. Supernovae result from the death of massive stars, which don't live on the main sequence very long, sometimes only a few hundred thousand years. It's the old 'The bigger they are, the harder they fall' adage.

As it turns out the so-called 'Pillars of Creation' could also be pillars of destruction. New observations have been made in infrared that indicate that this destructive action could also be happening there.

Obviously, star formation is a very violent happening. Stars that are beginning to burn hydrogen by fusion have a tendency to blast out streamers from their poles. These jet streamers can extend out for billions of miles and flow at hundreds of thousands of miles per hour. Astronomers believe that our sun went through this violent birth process. In fact, this streamer effect is a good indication of the birth of a new star.

What interests me is the fact that 50 years ago no one knew that new stars were being formed. Now we know it's happening all over the universe.

Thanks for reading.