And the winner, with over 17,000 votes is ... Eagle Nebula Pillars!

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured many amazing images during its 25 years in orbit. In celebration of the telescope’s 25th anniversary, we pitted 32 of these images against each other in a series of head-to-head competitions. Popular votes decided the winner of each matchup. Ultimately, the Eagle Nebula Pillars triumphed over all other competitors to become champion of Hubble Mania 2015.

These pillars of cold hydrogen gas and dust in the Eagle Nebula, 6,500 light years away, are the birthplace of new stars. The pillars are bathed in the blistering ultraviolet light from a grouping of young, massive stars located off the top of the image. Streamers of gas can be seen bleeding off the pillars as the intense radiation heats and evaporates it into space. Denser regions of the pillars are shadowing material beneath them from the powerful radiation.





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