$9.85 Pillars of Creation Stamps

Description

2024 Pillars Of Creation – Priority Mail
• The first non-American Landmarks Series Priority Mail stamp since 2008
• Pictures state-of-the-art image from NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope

Stamp Category: Definitive
Value: $9.85 Priority Mail Rate
First Day of Issue: January 22, 2024
First Day City: Greenbelt, Maryland
Printing Method: Offset, Microprint
Format: Panes of 4
Tagging: Nonphosphored Type III, Block Tag Applied

History the stamp represents: In 2024, the USPS issued a Priority Mail stamp picturing an image from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). It shows a photograph of the structures known as the “Pillars of Creation,” located within the deep space Eagle Nebula.

The Pillars of Creation were first photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope (the famous predecessor to JWST) on April 1, 1995. However, the massive formations of interstellar gas and dust were discovered in 1920 by John Charles Duncan. He first viewed them using the Mount Wilson Observatory’s 60-inch telescope in Los Angeles, California. The name “Pillars of Creation” came from the fact that the gas and dust that make up the structures are actively forming new stars. Without stars, life on any planet would be near-impossible (since space is otherwise freezing cold).

After many observations by different telescopes, scientists have slowly learned more about Pillars of Creation. For example, we know the entire structure is larger than our whole solar system! With JWST being the most advanced space telescope ever launched, NASA also got to see ejections from the young stars still being formed within the pillars. It will be fun to see what other impressive deep-space structures JWST will show us during its time in Earth’s orbit.