NASA shared a striking image of the 'Christmas Tree Cluster,' a vast gathering of youthful stars 2,500 light-years away. The photo, resembling a holiday tree, features colorized stars and gas, with the edited image being the latest capture by NASA's Chandra Observatory.
Christmas Tree Cluster Turned Upside Down
The Chandra X-ray Observatory is designed to detect X-ray emissions from hot regions in the universe, including exploded stars, galaxies, and matter around black holes. Its unique capability to resolve and pinpoint X-ray sources enabled the identification of numerous very young stars and protostars in the Christmas Tree Cluster.
It's beginning to look a lot like cosmos. 🎶
— NASA (@NASA) December 19, 2023
Our @ChandraXray Observatory recently spotted the blue-and-white lights that decorate the "Christmas Tree Cluster," a swarm of stars and gas some 2,500 light-years from Earth: https://t.co/VT2WaLgp77 pic.twitter.com/HrnrmxRyd7
Despite its name, the Christmas Tree Cluster derives its name from the brilliance of its members, which illuminates the surrounding area akin to a lit Christmas tree display. Located in the Milky Way about 2,500 light-years away, NGC 2264, also known as the Christmas Tree Cluster, is a cluster of young stars with ages ranging from one to five million years.
The composite image, accentuating the Christmas tree resemblance, features blue and white lights representing young stars emitting X-rays, while green hues depict gas in the nebula, resembling the "pine needles" of the tree. Infrared data displays foreground and background stars in white.
Meanwhile, the coordinated blinking variations in the animation are artificial, emphasizing star locations and the tree's Christmas-like features. NASA clarified that the actual variations of the stars are not synchronized, and the image was rotated by approximately 150 degrees from the astronomer's standard orientation.
The Most Festive Deep-Space Object
NGC 2264 is located 2,500 light-years away in the Monoceros constellation, and is a vibrant celestial spectacle often likened to a Christmas tree that perhaps make it the most festive deep-space object out there.
It encompasses the Christmas Tree Cluster and the Cone Nebula, with additional features like the Fox Fur Nebula and the Stellar Snowflake Cluster. Due to its proximity to the celestial equator, NGC 2264 is partially visible from both hemispheres at certain times.
The young stars within NGC 2264 are dynamic, experiencing intense X-ray flares and other variations in different light spectra. Although the coordinated blinking observed in the animation is artificial, it serves to accentuate the X-ray-emitting stars' positions and the Christmas tree-like resemblance. In reality, the stars' variations are not synchronized.
Various processes contribute to the observed variations, including magnetic field-related activity such as powerful flares exceeding those of the Sun, as well as hot spots and dark regions on the stars' surfaces that become visible as they rotate.
Changes in the thickness of gas obscuring the stars and variations in material falling onto the stars from surrounding gas disks also play roles in the observed fluctuations.
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