ABOUT THIS IMAGE:

A close-up look at the peak of one of these "pillars of creation" reveals unequivocal evidence that stars are being born inside the columns. A pencil-like streamer of gas shoots out in both directions from the pillar and plows into surrounding gas like a fire hose hitting a wall of sand. The jet is being launched from a newly forming star hidden inside the column. A similar jet appears near the bottom of the image. These stellar jets are a common signature of the birth of a new star.

Object Names: Carina Nebula, NGC 3372

Image Type: Astronomical

Credit for Hubble Image: NASA, ESA, N. Smith (University of California, Berkeley), and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Credit for CTIO Image: N. Smith (University of California, Berkeley) and NOAO/AURA/NSF

NEWS RELEASE IMAGES

The above image is part of a montage:

Montage Image: Star-Forming Region in the Carina Nebula Image Type: Astronomical/Illustration PRC2007-16d

Star-Forming Region in the Carina Nebula: Detail 1 Image Type: Astronomical

All images from this news release:

To access available information and downloadable versions of images in this news release, click on any of the images below:

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