Space & Astronomy

NASA publishes festive image of distant 'Christmas Tree Cluster'

By T.K. Randall
December 22, 2023 ·  6 comments

The perfect astronomical image for this time of year. Image Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO et al. Situated within our own galaxy approximately 2,500 light-years from the Earth, NGC 2264 (also known as the Christmas Tree Cluster) is a cluster of young stars up to 5 million years old.

According to NASA, the stars range in size from a tenth of the mass of the Sun to seven times larger.

The image is a composite created using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, the National Science Foundation's WIYN 0.9-meter telescope and the Two Micron All Sky Survey.The blue and white points of light are stars that give off X-rays, the green parts of the image are the gases of the nebula and the other background and foreground stars are also shown in white.

The resulting composition resembles a Christmas tree with tinsel and baubles on its branches.

"Young stars, like those in NGC 2264, are volatile and undergo strong flares in X-rays and other types of variations seen in different types of light," NASA wrote.

"The coordinated, blinking variations shown in this animation, however, are artificial, to emphasize the locations of the stars seen in X-rays and highlight the similarity of this object to a Christmas tree."


Source: NASA.gov | Comments (6)

Tags: Christmas, NASA