Eagle Nebula (NGC 6611), optical image. The Eagle Nebula is an emission nebula, a huge cloud of gas and dust that glows as the hydrogen it contains is ionised by radiation from the hot young stars that have formed within it. At lower centre-right is an area known as the Pillars of Creation. This nebula lies around 6500 light years from Earth in the constellation Serpens. Imaged by the Moorook Observatory, Australia.