Images made in 1995 by the Hubble greatly improved our understanding of processes inside the nebula. The region of the Eagle Nebula known as the "Pillars of Creation" is a large region of star formation. Its small dark areas are believed to be protostars. The pillar structure of the region resembles that of another, much larger star formation region, imaged by Spitzer Space Telescope in 2005 in Cassiopeia, which is designated W5 and usually called "Mountains of Creation". In early 2007 scientists using the Spitzer discovered evidence that the Pillars of Creation, a famous portion of the Eagle Nebula that was imaged by Hubble, were likely destroyed by a supernova explosion about 6,000 years ago, but the light showing the new shape of the nebula will not reach Earth for another millennium. [Wikipedia]