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The Eagle Nebula is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens, discovered by Jean-Philippe Loys de Cheseaux in 1745–46. Both the "Eagle" and the "Star Queen" refer to visual impressions of the dark silhouette near the centre of the nebula, an area made famous by the "Pillars of Creation" imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope. The emission nebula contains several active star-forming gas and dust regions, including the aforementioned pillars.
This picture of the Eagle Nebula is a three-colour composite mosaic image, based on photographs taken by the Wide Field Imager camera of the MPG/ESO telescope at La Silla Observatory. The area imaged in Pillars of Creation can be seen in the centre, along with other star-forming regions, as well as a large number of stars in front of, in or behind the nebula.Photograph credit: European Southern Observatory