The Pillars of Creation is a star-forming region of space perhaps most famous because of the Hubble Space Telescope image captured in 1995.
Hubble's image of the Pillars of Creation is one of the most iconic images of the cosmos, and Webb's view of the Pillars of Creation was released in October 2022.
This new image of the region has been created using data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the James Webb Space Telescope, and shows the Pillars in new light.
Want to see it for yourself? Read our guide on how to observe the Pillars of Creation
Chandra's x-ray and Webb's infrared vision are able to see through cosmic dust clouds and get to the heart of the Pillars, which are towering columns of gas and dust within the larger Eagle Nebula, M16.
Gas and dust are key ingredients for star formation, as these materials coalesce over time, grow bigger and bigger and eventually collapse under their own gravity, heat up and form new stars.
In this image, Chandra data is seen in red and blue, while Webb data is seen in red, green and blue.
Chandra's x-ray vision is able to see young stars embedded in the dust pillars that would normally be obscured from view.
The multitude of white, red, blue, yellow and purple dots are young, energetic stars glowing in x-ray and infrared light.
When seen in isolation, Chandra's data appears like colourful Christmas lights against the inky-black backdrop of the cosmos.
Webb's infrared view reveals the swirling, towering Pillars of the Creation themselves.
Combined, the two images create a composite showing a dynamic region of the Universe, filled with the vital ingredients needed for a new generation of stars to be born.
