Pillars of Creation blown away in supernova?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

It’s a bit of old news, so apologies if it is common knowledge already - a search of ‘pillars creation supernova’ didn’t return any results.

Apparently there is evidence that the famous picture will not be with us forever:
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2007-01/release.shtml

I fully recognize that things we see in the night sky are not as they actually appear in real time in the universe - but this seems to be one of the few times where we might know something has happened before we actually see it.

2

Very cool. GO SCIENCE!

3

All nebula are transient anyway. The good news is the shockwave will compress the gas and hopefully cause another round of star formation. Supernovas are one of the two mechanisms that enrich the interstellar medium with heavy elements. This leads to planet formation, and in at least one case life.

4

I knew I shouldn’t have bought that timeshare there…