M16 (NGC 6611, Eagle Nebula), Pillars of Creation

A very young star cluster embedded in glowing gas in constellation Serpens, not older than 1 or 2 million years.
This object is about 6000 light years away and more than 8000 stars belong to the cluster.
This region has been studied extensively to learn more about the process of star formation. Jeff Hester and Paul Scowen used the Hubble telescope to image the central part of this nebula in 1995. One of these images has become one of the most iconic images ever taken by HST: it was named „Pillars of Creation“ after the dark finger-like or pillar-like clouds in the center which hide numerous proto-stars which are just in the process to become „real“ stars.
The color map used for this image is since then cooled „Hubble Palette“.
This image is based on a similar palette and is of course not as detailed as the famous picture. But I like it as it is something I never expected to be able to image that way. Note the tiny dark globules hovering in the foreground, collapsing molecular clouds on the way to become another sun … with eventually planets … and who knows … eventual another form of life …
Borg 90FL
1.08 Flattener
ZWO OAG
ASI 2600MM Pro
ZWO EFW
Baader Ultra-Narrowband 3.5/4nm and RGB filters
H/OIII/SII: 24x300s each
R/G/B: 20x60s each
Total Integration: 7h over 3 nights
Bortle 4-5
PixInsight
GraXpert



