( CNN ) NASA has come out with a new image that could become one of its most iconic ever . The Hubble Space Telescope revisited the so-called `` Pillars of Creation , '' which the space agency describes as `` three giant columns of cold gas bathed in the scorching ultraviolet light from a cluster of young , massive stars in a small region of the Eagle Nebula , or M16 . '' The previous photo of these pillars , taken in 1995 , went on to stand out from all the rest of NASA 's space images , the agency said . `` The Hubble image is so popular that it has appeared in movies and television shows , on T-shirts and pillows , and even on a postage stamp . '' In celebration of the telescope 's upcoming 25th anniversary in April , Hubble returned to the pillars -- and this time with the latest high-definition tools . The new sharper and wider image was taken `` in near-infrared light , as well as visible light , '' NASA said . `` The infrared view transforms the pillars into eerie , wispy silhouettes seen against a background of myriad stars . That 's because the infrared light penetrates much of the gas and dust , except for the densest regions of the pillars . Newborn stars can be seen hidden away inside the pillars . '' In 1995 , the captured image gave insight into star formation . `` Nebulous star-forming regions like M16 are the interstellar neon signs that say , 'We just made a bunch of massive stars here , ' '' said Paul Scowen of Arizona State University , who helped lead the original observations , in a post on NASA 's website . The new image `` hints '' that these columns `` are also pillars of destruction , '' NASA said . `` The ghostly bluish haze around the dense edges of the pillars is material getting heated up and evaporating away into space , '' said Scowen . `` We have caught these pillars at a very unique and short-lived moment in their evolution . '' 8 new planets found in 'Goldilocks zone '
A 1995 image of the `` Pillars of Creation '' became iconic . The Hubble Space Telescope has captured a stunning new view of NGC 247 -- one that shows how galaxies evolve over billions of years and showcases some of the most distant objects ever seen.