The Eagle Has Risen: Stellar Spire in the Eagle Nebula

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Appearing like a winged fairy-tale creature poised on a pedestal, this object is actually a billowing tower of cold gas and dust rising from a stellar nursery called the Eagle Nebula. The soaring tower is 9.5 light-years or about 57 trillion miles high, about twice the distance from our Sun to the next nearest star.

Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Mer info: http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/2002/12/image/b