Eagle Nebula
''This eerie, dark structure in IC 4703 (the Eagle nebula) is a column of cool molecular hydrogen gas and dust that is an incubator for new stars. The stars are embedded inside finger-like protrusions clearly seen extending from the top of the column. Each "fingertip" is somewhat larger than our own solar system.''
Messier object M16, also known as NGC 6611, is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens Cauda. It is associated with a diffuse emission nebula, or H II region, which is cataloged as IC 4703 and called the Eagle Nebula. This region of current star formation is about 7,000 light years distant.
