APOD 1.1

  The Fairy of Eagle Nebula  

     While reading about this photograph, I first read about dust pillars which are described as interstellar mountains that exist because they are more dense than their surroundings. These dust pillars are part of the Eagle Nebula(M16), which is an open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens.  It was first discovered by Jean-Philippe de Cheseaux, a Swiss astronomer in 1745-1746.  It is called Eagle Nebula because the shape of the actual nebula itself resembles an eagle.  The evaporating gas and dust in the nebula form a whole nursery of stars.  The Fairy of Eagle Nebula is ten light years tall, and gives off radiation hotter than fire...quite the fairy.