The Eagle Nebula (also known as Messier Object 16, M16 or NGC 6611
is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens.
It is associated with a diffuse emission nebula, or H II region,
which is catalogued as IC 4703. This region of active current star
formation is about 7,000 light-years distant. The brightest star in
the nebula has an apparent magnitude of 8.2, easily
visible with good binoculars.
The Eagle nebula's region known as "Pillars of Creation", made famous
by stunning photos from the Hubble Space Telescops, is a large region
of star formation.