The top image shows an opaque column of gold and brown glowing gas and dust rising against a blue-green background of gas-filled space with scattered pinkish stars. The bottom image shows the same image, but many more stars are visible. The column of gas and dust is a dim, ghostly gray version of itself and mostly transparent. Stars can be seen through it and a cloudy jet of gas is visible emerging horizontally from within the column. The background is black space dotted with a myriad of stars.

Pillar in the Carina Nebula (C92)

Hubble observed this pillar of gas and dust in the Carina Nebula in both visible light (top) and infrared light (bottom) in 2009 using its newly installed Wide Field Camera 3. The infrared image reveals stars that are hidden in the visible-light image. A jet of material can be seen streaming to the left and right from a young star in the center of the pillar.

Credits: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team
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Image CreditNASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team
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