This famous image shows three pillars of interstellar gas, 'rising' from the Eagle Nebula. The name 'Pillars of Creation' comes from the fact that each of these trunks are in the process of creating new stars among the gas and dust within. It's been proposed that these pillars were actually destroyed around 6000 years ago, thanks to a supernova occurring nearby. Itt has been estimated that humans will be able to actually witness the destruction of the Pillars of Creation in 1000 years.
1. Deep Space
One of the most iconic photos ever taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, this is the deepest visible-light image ever taken of our Universe. Almost 10,000 individual galaxies can be seen within the image at full resolution, which has been named the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. The image represents only a tiny cross section of our sky, equivalent to stretching your hand out at arm's length, then looking at around a quarter the size of your pinky nail compared to the space above. It's the depth of the image that's truly impressive, stretching across billions of light-years. The image remains one of NASA and ESA's biggest achievements, and was made up of 800 exposures taken from 400 orbits of the Hubble Space Telescope around Earth. In total, it represents 11.3 days of exposure time, giving us a view into space deeper than ever before. Do you have any favourite NASA images? Are there any here that truly blew your mind? Let us know in the comments below!
