The Eagle nebula is a large emission nebula which is still in the process of forming new stars. Emission nebulae are clouds of high temperature gas. The atoms in an emission nebula are energized by the ultraviolet radiation from nearby stars, causing the the nebula to warm up and emit light. The Eagle Nebula lies about 6,500 light years away from us in the constellation Serpens. The star forming regions in this nebula are surrounded by thick clouds of gas and dust which hide the new stars from optical telescopes. Infrared light, however, can penetrate clouds of thick dust, and bring us more information about the newly formed stars and their environments.

For this false-color Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) composite, the 8.28 µm band was mapped to the blue channel, the 12.13 µm band was mapped to the green channel, and the 21.3 µm band was mapped to the red channel. This image covers about 0.5 x 0.5 degree in the sky.

Credit: MSX/IPAC/NASA