Pillars of Creation’s 6,000-Year Fate

The Pillars of Creation were probably destroyed 6,000 years ago, after a Spitzer Space Telescope image revealed a nearby cloud of hot dust that could be the aftermath of a supernova shock wave. Because the Pillars sit about 7,000 light-years away, Earth would keep seeing them intact for roughly another 1,000 years even if the blast had already toppled them. Other astronomers dispute the supernova explanation and argue stellar winds could have heated the dust instead, which would mean the Pillars are eroding more gradually.

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