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At 7,000 light years away, are they even still there today?
“There’s no difference between a pessimist who says, “Oh it’s hopeless, so don’t bother doing anything.” and an optimist who says, “Don’t bother doing anything, it’s going to turn out fine anyways.” Either way, nothing happens.” –Yvon Chouinard
The Eagle Nebula is a large, active, star-forming region located 7,000 light years away.
Near its heart, beside a massive collection of new stars, lie the Pillars of Creation.
Imaged in breathtaking detail in 1995, a 20-year follow-up was done, showcasing additional details, larger field-of-view, and changes over time.
There are subtle signs of changes that can be viewed, even over such short spans of cosmic time.
An ejected jet has extended an extra 100 billion kilometers over that time: 1000 times the Earth-Sun distance, moving at 200 km/s.
The new image includes infrared data, which penetrates the dust, revealing stars and showcasing where the gas (in blue, above) is evaporating.
Changes between the images indicate that the pillars are still intact today, even though the light we’re seeing came from 7,000 years ago.
The best evidence for changes comes at the base of the pillars, indicating an evaporation time of approximately 100,000 years.
As the world warms, trees in forests such as those in Minnesota will no longer be adapted to their local climates. That’s where assisted migration comes in.