People are saying that The Pillars Of Creation have been destroyed, and will take 400-500 Million light years to reach us. Can someone explain how do we know it when the light hasn’t reached us?

Question

People are saying that The Pillars Of Creation have been destroyed, and will take 400-500 Million light years to reach us. Can someone explain how do we know it when the light hasn’t reached us?

In: 1444

Answer 1

You know the light has reached us when you can see it. The Eagle Nebula is about 7000 light years away, meaning when you look at it, you are seeing it as it appeared 7000 years ago.

Is the structure still there? No way to know other than wait and watch it change over time. But 7000 years is a very short time– so probably