The South Pillars

The Carina Nebula, where the South Pillars region exists, has an incredible array of fascinating objects and processes. In this image, for instance, we see pillars - also known colloquially as "elephant trunks" - of dust in which stars are being born. The best example in this photo is in the lower left quadrant. Recent research (McLeod et al., 2016) has suggested that such pillars are likely to disappear once the star comes into being due to a process known as photoevaporation, in which the powerful stellar wind from the new star literally blows away its cocoon.

Date: 20 March 2018
Constellation: Carina
R.A.: 10h 45m 29.1s
Dec.: -60° 03' 21.9"
Photo stuff: 20 subs@180s ea.; ISO 800; Canon 60Da on Meade RCX400 f/8; .7 focal reducer