The Eagle Nebula (cataloged as Messier 16 or M16 , and as NGC 6611 ) is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens, discovered by Jean-Philippe de Cheseaux in 1745-46.
It is the subject of the famous “Pillars of Creation” photograph by the Hubble Space Telescope, which shows pillars of star-forming gas and dust within the nebula.