<p>NASA's October 19, 2022 <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-takes-star-filled-portrait-of-pillars-of-creation" rel="nofollow noreferrer">NASA’s Webb Takes Star-Filled Portrait of Pillars of Creation</a> shows a sparkly and beautiful infrared image of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_trunk_(astronomy)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Astronomical elephant trunks</a> known as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillars_of_Creation" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Pillars of Creation</a>.</p>
<p>The Wikipedia article doesn't seem to give any amateur observing-relevant information like angular size or visual magnitude, nor their actual physical size.</p>
<p><strong>Question:</strong> How tall are the pillars of creation in angular and physical dimension? How bright are they?</p>
<p>I wonder if they can at least be spotted as a faint fuzzy spot in an amateur telescope?</p>
<hr />
<p>From the linked NASA item; left: Hubble, right: includes JWST</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/bgl7a.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/bgl7a.jpg" alt="from NASA's October 19, 2022 &quot;NASA’s Webb Takes Star-Filled Portrait of Pillars of Creation&quot; https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-takes-star-filled-portrait-of-pillars-of-creation" /></a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>NASA's Hubble Space Telescope made the Pillars of Creation famous with its first image in 1995, but revisited the scene in 2014 to reveal a sharper, wider view in visible light, shown above at left. A new, near-infrared-light view from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, at right, helps us peer through more of the dust in this star-forming region. The thick, dusty brown pillars are no longer as opaque and many more red stars that are still forming come into view.
Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI).</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-20T09:30:39.880Z
The pillars of creation are *dark* clouds. They are visible because of the background being bright.
planetmaker
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-20T13:30:31.830Z
They are quite large and bright compared to other objects amateurs might look at, I have photographed them a few times from my very light polluted (Bortle 8) back yard.  I don't think I've ever tried to see them visually from a dark site.  They are part of a larger nebula called the Eagle Nebula or M16.  If you download a program like Stellarium, you can search for that and measure the size.
Greg Miller
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-20T15:54:17.983Z
@planetmaker except where they aren't
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-20T15:55:43.370Z
@GregMiller Thanks! Then I will try to have a look some day with my 8x42 binoculars
uhoh
<observational-astronomy><amateur-observing><nebula><james-webb-space-telescope>
How tall are the pillars of creation? (angular and physical) How bright are they?
uhoh
# How tall are the pillars of creation? (angular and physical) How bright are they?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-10-20)

NASA's October 19, 2022 [NASA’s Webb Takes Star-Filled Portrait of Pillars of Creation](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-takes-star-filled-portrait-of-pillars-of-creation) shows a sparkly and beautiful infrared image of the [Astronomical elephant trunks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_trunk_(astronomy)) known as the [Pillars of Creation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillars_of_Creation).

The Wikipedia article doesn't seem to give any amateur observing-relevant information like angular size or visual magnitude, nor their actual physical size.

**Question:** How tall are the pillars of creation in angular and physical dimension? How bright are they?

I wonder if they can at least be spotted as a faint fuzzy spot in an amateur telescope?

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From the linked NASA item; left: Hubble, right: includes JWST

[![from NASA's October 19, 2022 "NASA’s Webb Takes Star-Filled Portrait of Pillars of Creation" https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-s-webb-takes-star-filled-portrait-of-pillars-of-creation](https://i.sstatic.net/bgl7a.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/bgl7a.jpg)

> NASA's Hubble Space Telescope made the Pillars of Creation famous with its first image in 1995, but revisited the scene in 2014 to reveal a sharper, wider view in visible light, shown above at left. A new, near-infrared-light view from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, at right, helps us peer through more of the dust in this star-forming region. The thick, dusty brown pillars are no longer as opaque and many more red stars that are still forming come into view.
> Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI).

**Tags:** observational-astronomy, amateur-observing, nebula, james-webb-space-telescope

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The pillars of creation are *dark* clouds. They are visible because of the background being bright.  
> **username_2**: They are quite large and bright compared to other objects amateurs might look at, I have photographed them a few times from my very light polluted (Bortle 8) back yard.  I don't think I've ever tried to see them visually from a dark site.  They are part of a larger nebula called the Eagle Nebula or M16.  If you download a program like Stellarium, you can search for that and measure the size.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 except where they aren't  
> **username_0**: @username_2 Thanks! Then I will try to have a look some day with my 8x42 binoculars  

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## 0 answers

