Source: Hubblesite.org
From the HubbleSite NewsCenter:
"This brand new Hubble photo is of a small portion of one of the largest seen star-birth regions in the galaxy, the Carina Nebula. Towers of cool hydrogen laced with dust rise from the wall of the nebula. The scene is reminiscent of Hubble's classic "Pillars of Creation" photo from 1995, but is even more striking in appearance. The image captures the top of a three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars. The pillar is also being pushed apart from within, as infant stars buried inside it fire off jets of gas that can be seen streaming from towering peaks like arrows sailing through the air."
Our world sometimes seems so snarky and small ("hey--that looks like the liner from a Yes album"). Yet these images make me lightheaded; I have no words with which to name what they inspire. My hands fall motionless on the keyboard, as if this were some sort of meditation. Indeed, at no other time do I find it so natural to be absolutely still. It's as close as I have come for many years to anything approaching religion.
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