Eagle Nebula, Messier 16 - Lucky to be Friends Card

Galaxies and Stars series: A breathtaking greetings card showing a spectacular three-colour composite mosaic image of the Eagle Nebula (Messier 16, or NGC 6611). It's based on images obtained with the Wide-Field Imager camera on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory. At the centre, the so-called “Pillars of Creation” can be seen and this wide-field image shows not only the central pillars, but also several others in the same star-forming region, as well as a huge number of stars in front of, in, or behind the Eagle Nebula. image code: eglneb ESO/J. Reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.