M16 Eagle Nebula and Pillars of Creation | AstroGuy Astrophotography

M16 Eagle Nebula and Pillars of Creation photographed by Wayne Zuhl — M16, the Eagle Nebula, including the Pillars of Creation. Photograph © Wayne Zuhl. Click the image to view the full-resolution version on AstroBin. Contact Wayne for permission to use this photograph.

Why I Wanted to Photograph M16

The Eagle has been a visual favorite and one that I’ve wanted to get a detailed image of for a long time. From my home, the Eagle never gets very high, and it is only out of the trees and the worst light pollution for a couple of hours a night at best. I had to make the most of the time I could capture.

Recently, I had seen a lot of amateur astrophotographers comparing their images with the famous Hubble version of the Pillars of Creation. It’s a fun thing to do. Some amateurs with larger scopes can get remarkably close in detail, but Hubble still has one huge advantage: no atmosphere.

So this was my take on that comparison. I used the specifications and costs of the two instruments — Hubble and my own imaging rig — as part of the comparison. For me, the fun is seeing just how much detail can be pulled out of a target like this with amateur equipment from a suburban backyard. But then again, my rig is about $16 billion dollars less than Hubble.

The Pillars of Creation Inside M16

M16, the Eagle Nebula, is an emission nebula and active star-forming region in Serpens, about 7,000 light-years away. The famous Pillars of Creation are enormous columns of gas and dust being sculpted by radiation and winds from young, massive stars. The tallest pillars extend roughly five light-years.

The Pillars became one of Hubble’s most recognizable images after the telescope photographed them in 1995. Hubble returned to the region with newer instrumentation, producing a sharper and wider view of the same structures.

Close-up crop of the Pillars of Creation in M16 from Wayne Zuhl’s Eagle Nebula image — A closer look at the Pillars of Creation from the full M16 image. Photograph © Wayne Zuhl. Contact Wayne for permission to use this photograph.

Gear

Telescope: Celestron C8 with Celestron 0.63× SCT reducer
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro
Mount: Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro
Filter: Askar ColourMagic D1 Ha+OIII 6 nm
Guiding: William Optics UniGuide 50 with ZWO ASI462MC
Control and focus: ASIAIR Plus and ZWO EAF

Image Acquisition

Exposure: 294 × 60 seconds
Total integration: 4 hours 54 minutes
Capture dates: August 6, 8, 9 and 19, 2026
Camera settings: Gain 100, bin 1×1, −10°C
Calibration: 40 darks, 40 flats, 40 flat darks
Sky: Bortle 6

Processing the Eagle Nebula in PixInsight

The image was stacked and processed entirely in PixInsight. It was drizzled at 2×.

See the M16 Image on AstroBin

The full-resolution project is also posted on AstroBin, where you can view the image and project details as well.

View Full Resolution on AstroBin Back to Astrophotography

Object and Hubble image reference: NASA — The Pillars of Creation.

M16 — The Eagle Nebula and Pillars of Creation