This is a segment from my album «Pillars of Creation», dedicated to the nebula of the same name in the constellation Serpens. The photograph of it taken by the Hubble Space Telescope became iconic; for at least two decades, it epitomized the visual concept of "outer space" in the collective human imagination. The "Pillars" also serve as a striking example of "cosmic architecture" — after all, we relate everything to our earthly experience of "creation." What do we create on Earth? We build homes, skyscrapers, and palaces. And look — there are skyscrapers and palaces in space, too. In the "Pillars of Creation", there are three distinct structures (though some count as many as four of these interstellar formations). They are beautiful, aesthetically pleasing, and unique in their contours — truly unforgettable, and impossible to mistake for anything else...
Few people realize that the "Pillars of Creation" constitute a central yet very small part of a much larger nebula known to astronomers as the Eagle Nebula — also designated M16 in Charles Messier's catalog. Beyond the Pillars, M16 contains several other fascinating and beautiful nebular structures that are, at times, just as mesmerizing as the famous Pillars themselves.
