Pillars of Creation Destroyed

anthemaniac writes with news about the Pillars of Creation, an iconic structure in the Eagle Nebula some 7,000 light-years distant. The Hubble Space Telescope's image of this structure is one of the most widely recognized astronomy images ever captured. Now a new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope suggests that the pillars probably toppled 6,000 years ago. From the article: "Astronomers think [a] supernova's shock wave knocked the pillars down about 6,000 years ago. But because light from that region of the sky takes 7,000 years to reach us, the majestic pillars will appear intact to observers on Earth for another 1,000 years or so.'"

Comments

Re:Cool... hope it didn't cost too much

[Ingolfke]

Yes. Which is less than 1%. I wasn't trying to make a point about incorrect math... I was just stating exactly how much was being spent on taking pictures of stuff that no longer exists and that we have no real practical way of ever getting to and probably will never have any real impact on anyone on this planet ever.

Re:Ah ha!

[cyclop]

The stance of refusing to believe is an active stance, and requires a conscious choice to believe in something you cannot prove

This is a subtle fallacy. I don't have the active stance of refusing to believe in God more than I have the active stance of refusing to believe in green-bearded nazi unicors thriving on Charon. Both are entities whose existence I would have happily ignored before the imagination of men created both (I created the latest just now; but now, how can you say they don't exist? Bet your life on it, if you dare!)