Located 7000 light-years away, towards the constellation of Serpens (the Snake), the Eagle Nebula is a dazzling stellar nursery, a region of gas and dust where young stars are currently being formed and where a cluster of massive, hot stars, NGC 6611, has just been born. The powerful light and strong winds from these massive new arrivals are shaping light-year long pillars, seen in the image partly silhouetted against the bright background of the nebula. The nebula itself has a shape vaguely reminiscent of an eagle, with the central pillars being the "talons".
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SPACE.com - Two astronauts will venture outside the International Space Station Monday to tackle some final tasks in the fifth and last spacewalk of their mission to the orbiting laboratory.
AFP - The Iraqi government has fired the head of state-owned South Oil Company (SOC), who publicly criticised Baghdad's auctioning off of oil and gas fields to foreign energy giants, an oil ministry spokesman said on Thursday.
Reuters - Heavy rainstorms have caused flooding and landslides across southern China, killing at least 66 people this summer and forcing tens of thousands to evacuate their homes, the Xinhua news agency said on Thursday.
SPACE.com - Astronauts are gearing up for a spacewalk Saturday to prepare a new Japanese research porch to be installed on the space station.
AFP - A Chinese-born former Boeing engineer who became a US citizen was convicted by a US court of spying for China for decades, stealing technology and trade secrets, including data on NASA's space shuttle program.
