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MrSnow702 t1_jbzwsav wrote

Can someone ELI5 why these are called the pillars of creation? And what are they exactly?

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drmirage809 t1_jc03kz2 wrote

They are what is known as a stellar nursery. Inside these pillars of gas stars are being formed in truly breathtaking numbers. Looking up close you can see the young stars shining through the clouds.

Sadly they no longer exists. The light we are seeing is about 7000 thousand years old and in those years they've probably been blown apart by the stellar wind of all the stars that have formed inside them.

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Splive t1_jc1uv4g wrote

Wait really? I'm so used to thinking about galactic level events happening over millions or billions of years. Had not expected that such a change could be on the timeline of humanity.

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vertigo-one t1_jc616hg wrote

7000 thousand = 7 Million That's how I read it. Dunno why it was written that way.

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DaveMcW t1_jc34gzo wrote

The theory of special relativity says that our reference frame where they still exist is perfectly valid.

The reference frame in the middle of the cluster where they no longer exist is also valid.

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Natiak t1_jc4z3yg wrote

Does this mean if you were traveling at the speed of light you would exist in a single reference frame?

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