: They act as "incubators" for new stars. Inside the dense clouds, gravity causes knots of gas to collapse into protostars .

: The leftmost pillar alone is about 4 light-years in length—stretching a distance nearly equal to that between our sun and its nearest star, Proxima Centauri.

: Finger-like protrusions at the tips, called Evaporating Gaseous Globules (EGGs) , shield the gas behind them from intense ultraviolet radiation, allowing stars to form within. 2. The Imaging Legacy