twilight-actual t1_j1q6sl5 wrote on December 26, 2022 at 2:55 PM

Also, nothing is static. Everything is in motion. The pillars of creation are clouds, and like clouds here on earth, they change. These are just on the scale of light years, so change at the macro level takes time. Still, I would expect noticeable change in the decades between when Hubble's original shot was taken, and JWST.

wutangjan t1_j1qzjkp wrote on December 26, 2022 at 6:31 PM

That is the natural prediction of these things, but I believe OP was looking for some specific, graphable differences to support the idea that these things in distant space do actually exist and evolve dynamically. The alternative implies that these distant constructs are either static projections, or somehow exist outside of our bubble of time.

While the thing you said about change at the macro level is spot-on, good science means we must use data to support these understandings, or else we must reject them entirely.