Messier 16 is an emission nebula and star cluster that is a site of active star formation in the constellation of Serpens Cauda.

M16 carries the popular names of the Eagle Nebula or Star Queen Nebula, and is home of the "Pillars of Creation", made famous by the Hubble Space Telescope's close-up image of M16. These pillars are the location of new star formation, and are sculpted by the stellar winds from nearby newborn stars. They can be seen in the center of this image.

M16 lies at a distance of 7,000 light-years. The apparent size of the nebula is cataloged as 6 x 6 arcminutes, but in this long-exposure image it is 30 x 20 arcminutes, which would correspond to a real size of 60 x 40 light-years in space. Fainter outer portions of the nebula not included in this image actually make it even larger in size.

M16 lies in the Sagittarius arm of the Milky Way, the next spiral arm in from our location in the Orion Arm (or Orion Spur).

The dust and gas in the giant cloud that contains M16 has given birth to a number of hot young stars in the star cluster embedded in the nebula. The ultraviolet energy from these stars cause the nebula to glow with the characteristic red color of ionized hydrogen-alpha emission.

The cluster, NGC 6611, was discovered by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1745-6. The Nebula, IC 4703, was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764. The nebula was first recorded in a photograph by E. E. Barnard in 1895.

The star cluster inside of M16 is 5.5 million years old. The brightest member of the cluster shines at magnitude 8.25.

M16 is easily located 2.5 degrees north-northwest from M17, the Omega Nebula.

North is to the top in the above image.

Messier 16 Catalogs: M16, NGC 6611, IC 4703 Common Name: Eagle, Star Queen Object Type: Emission Nebula Magnitude: 6v Size: 6' x 6' Constellation: Serpens Cauda Image Field Centered At: RA: 18h 18m 51s Dec: -13° 49' 02"