The Sky At Night: 58x11

The Pillars of Creation

Perhaps no object in the night sky conjures up a greater sense of awe and wonder than a nebula. These vast clouds of dust and gases are stupendously beautiful, but they aren’t just pretty objects. Nebulae play a key role in the birth and death of stars, and therefore in our own origins. And driving their creation is a kind of chemistry that the textbooks say shouldn’t be happening.