Near-infrared-light view of the Pillars of Creation, a small region within the vast Eagle Nebula, which lies 6, 500 light-years away. The pillars are filled with semi-transparent gas and dust, and ever changing. This is a region where young stars are forming, or have barely burst from their dusty cocoons as they continue to form. Newly formed stars are these are the bright red orbs that sometimes appear with eight diffraction spikes. When knots with sufficient mass form within the pillars, they begin to collapse under their own gravity, slowly heat up, and eventually begin shining brightly. Along the edges of the pillars are wavy lines that look like lava. These are ejections from stars that are still forming. Young stars periodically shoot out supersonic jets that can interact within clouds of material, like these thick pillars of gas and dust. These young stars are estimated to be only a few hundred thousand years old, and will continue to form for millions of years.
