Why the Pillars of Creation has fascinated the public since 1995.
The Pillars of Creation was an image special enough to be featured on a U.S. postage stamp to commemorate the Hubble Space Telescope and its namesake, astrophysicist Rogier Windhorst tells Inverse.
Here is a guide to the stunning Pillars of Creation and why one space telescope veteran stands by the scene’s remarkability.
Windhorst has been an interdisciplinary scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) since 2002. The Pillars of Creation were first observed from the ground, he says, but JWST’s predecessor, Hubble, catapulted the region to fame when it imaged this pocket of the much-larger Eagle Nebula back in 1995. And JWST viewed the region last month, providing two incredible new views of its celestial spires.
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