The so-called “Pillars Of Creation” is an astonishing image which was taken by Hubble Space Telescope in 1995. It is now considered one of the top 10 most important images of space objects. Now, scientists were able to detect a new kind of magnetic fields in space, which reveal more details on stars formation but also on the “Pillars Of Creation.”
What are “Pillars Of Creation”?
The “Pillars of Creation” are, in fact, structures of cosmic gas and dust situated at approximately 7,000 light-years away from us, in the Eagle Nebula. The region where these formations reside is well-known for its stars formations properties.
“The pillars are bathed in the scorching ultraviolet light from a cluster of young stars. The winds from these stars are slowly eroding the towers of gas and dust,” says NASA.
The “Pillars Of Creation” present magnetic fields
The scientists have identified and charted very shallow magnetic fields in the “Pillars of Creation,” a phenomenon that has never been seen before in the before-mentioned region.
Employing the Hawaiian James Clerk Maxwell Telescope’s polarimeter instrument, the astronomers were able to notice polarized light emissions coming from the “Pillars”, which was suggesting the direction of some kind of magnetic fields.
“The fact that we have been able to observe the incredibly weak magnetic fields with this sensitive instrument will help us to solve the mystery of stars formation,” explained Derek Ward-Thompson, a researcher at the University of Central Lancashire and author of the study on the new findings.
The magnetic fields in the “Pillars Of Creation” reveal more about stars formation
At first, according to the researchers, the magnetic fields helped in the evolution of the “Pillars” and are now sustaining the “Pillars”. Accordingly, stars formation could happen by the breakdown of cosmic gas clusters that are decelerated by magnetic fields, leading to a column-shaped structure.
“Magnetic field may be slowing the pillars’ evolution into cometary globules,” said the scientists in the study’s report issued in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
