The columns of gas and dust displayed in this remarkable Hubble Space Telescope image are much like the formations we see in the deserts of the southwest United States.  It is believed that very dense pockets of material located at the tips of the columns act as "capstones" protecting the gas below them from the radiation and stellar winds of the massive stars within the Eagle Nebula.  These nebular formations are home to many observed proto-stars and are know as The Pillars of Creation.

¹Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, and obtained from the Hubble Legacy Archive, which is a collaboration between the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI/NASA), the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF/ESA) and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC/NRC/CSA).