The "Pillars of Creation" are also "Pillars of Destruction." A cluster of massive, intensely hot young stars (located just off-screen, above the pillars) is blasting them with powerful ultraviolet radiation. This radiation is "photoevaporating" the pillars—essentially boiling them away into space. ​We are witnessing a cosmic battle: the pillars are being destroyed by the very stars they (or their neighbors) helped create, even as new stars are still trying to form inside. ​The newer James Webb S