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Pillars of Creation Destroyed

Posted by kdawson on from the eat-your-heart-out-Hercules dept.

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.'"

8 of 364 comments (clear)

  1. Ah ha! by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    Astronomers think [a] supernova's shock wave knocked the pillars down about 6,000 years ago.

    Just as the the Earth was being created!

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    1. Re:Ah ha! by AndroidCat · · Score: 4, Funny

      They weren't destroyed, just modded down. Set your telescopes to view -1.

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  2. If you lived in the Eagle Nebula by andy314159pi · · Score: 5, Funny

    There was a gimmicky sign left by the pillars of creation:

    If you lived in the Eagle Nebula, you'd be destroyed by now.

  3. topple by Feyr · · Score: 4, Funny

    i find the idea that anything in space can "topple" or "fall down" highly amusing

    some of these reporters need to check their gravity :)

  4. Proper Time Travel Grammar by Peter+Trepan · · Score: 5, Funny

    They willan on-have collapsen.

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  5. Re:Bad use of "already" by baldass_newbie · · Score: 5, Funny

    Actually, this is a *ahem* perfect use of the pluperfect tense.

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  6. Re:Bad use of "already" by nacturation · · Score: 5, Funny

    So if I fart and you're 100 meters away, will you say that I haven't yet farted because it's outside of your smell cone?

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  7. Re:Bad use of "already" by mcvos · · Score: 4, Funny
    So if I fart and you're 100 meters away, will you say that I haven't yet farted because it's outside of your smell cone?

    I'm afraid the speed of fart is not a fundamental constant of our space-time continuum.