RPMChallenge 2015 Part III: The Pillars of Creation

The Pillars of Creation

Impossible Universe's second track. The Pillars of Creation.

This cosmic spectacle was discovered when the Hubble telescope took the first close-up pictures of the Eagle Nebula in 1994. (1) This particular part of the nebula got the name "The Pillars of Creation" because of the stars forming in the dust and gases that make up these pillars.

I've seen this picture many times: NASA's APOD (Astronomy Picture of the Day), Space.com, Pinterest...(yes I have a Pinterest account with an Astronomy board...you can check it out here). But as I was searching for inspiration for this project, I ran across this again and was mesmerized by this particular close-up of the nebula.

The Eagle Nebula (M16).
The Pillars of Creation are just
off-center to the left.

Eagle Nebula is about 7000 light years away from us and can be found between the constellations Serpens and Sagittarius. The entire nebula measures 70 light-years high by 50 light-years wide, with the tallest of the pillars being about 4 light-years high. (2)

Each of the "finger-like" tips of the pillars are larger than our solar system, and contain dense knots of gasses, and stars are being formed inside some of these.

I wanted to evoke the feeling of being in some sort of space vessel floating amongst the gas, dust, and newly-forming stars. I imagined the sheer size and majesty of these pillars of creation, and what it might be like to be much, much closer to them. I realize that if we, in our imaginary spacecraft, were closer somehow, it probably wouldn't look much different than where we are now on earth, considering the sheer immensity of just that one four-light-year pillar.

Still, the song is meant to be just that; a moment in time, a snapshot of floating amongst the majesty and wonder of The Pillars of Creation.



(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillars_of_Creation
(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_Nebula