Pillars of Creation

Photographer Andrew McCarthy recreated NASA’s famous “Pillars of Creation” photograph of the Eagle Nebula using a $500 telescope.

The original iconic image, taken by the Hubble telescope, shows an active star-forming region featuring towering tendrils of cosmic dust and gas in the heart of the Eagle Nebula, cataloged as M16.

It was first photographed in 1995 by NASA and has had a huge cultural impact with the image being featured on everything from “t-shirts to coffee mugs,” reports National Geographic.

A $16B Space Telescope vs a $500 backyard telescope
McCarthy spoke to PetaPixel about how he recreated the Pillars of Creation from his backyard in Arizona with a 12-inch Newtonian telescope and a monochrome camera using narrowband filters to create a vibrant color image.

“I shoot the Pillars of Creation a couple times a year. It’s a surprisingly accessible target, near the Sagittarius star cloud in the core of the Milky Way,” explains McCarthy.

“I used special software to remove all the stars in the image, so this unobstructed view really shows off the vast structures of gas and dust within the Eagle Nebula.

“The image was shot over several hours across multiple nights, while my telescope was guided along the stars using a sophisticated tracking mount that compensated for the earth’s rotation.”  READ MORE...