NASA Unveils Cosmic Christmas Tree in New Photo Ahead of the Festival

NASA Unveils Cosmic Christmas Tree

This latest picture of NGC 2264, also known as the “Christmas Tree Cluster,” reveals a cosmic tree shape illuminated by stellar lights. Situated about 2,500 light-years away in our Milky Way, NGC 2264 is a cluster of young stars aged between one and five million years. These stars vary in size, ranging from smaller than the Sun to others with about seven times its mass.

The enhanced resemblance to a Christmas tree in this composite image is achieved through color choices and rotation. Blinking blue and white lights in the animation signify young stars emitting X-rays, as detected by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. Green gas in the nebula, resembling “pine needles,” is depicted through optical data from the National Science Foundation’s WIYN 0.9-meter telescope on Kitt Peak. Additionally, white represents foreground and background stars, observed in infrared data from the Two Micron All Sky Survey. The image has been rotated clockwise by approximately 160 degrees, presenting the tree’s top towards the upper section, deviating from the astronomer’s standard with North pointing upward.

This composite image captures the Christmas Tree Cluster, featuring vibrant blue and white lights emanating from young stars, blinking in the animated version, and detected by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. The green hues represent gas in the nebula, resembling the “pine needles” of the tree, observed through optical data from the National Science Foundation’s WIYN 0.9-meter telescope on Kitt Peak. Additionally, infrared data from the Two Micron All Sky Survey showcases foreground and background stars in white. The image has been rotated clockwise by approximately 160 degrees, presenting the tree’s top towards the image’s upper section, deviating from the astronomer’s standard with the North pointing upward.

Young stars, such as those found in NGC 2264, exhibit volatility marked by intense flares in X-rays and various light variations. The animated, synchronized blinking displayed in this animation is artificial, and strategically used to accentuate the X-ray locations of the stars, creating a Christmas tree-like resemblance. In reality, the stars’ variations are not coordinated.

The observed variations, captured by Chandra and other telescopes, result from diverse processes. Some are linked to magnetic field activity, including powerful flares surpassing those of the Sun, as well as hot spots and dark regions on the stars’ surfaces that appear and disappear with their rotation. Changes in gas thickness obstructing the stars, along with alterations in the material falling onto the stars from surrounding gas disks, also contribute to these observed variations.

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center oversees the Chandra program, while the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center manages science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.

This release showcases a picture of a group of young stars forming a cosmic Christmas tree called NGC 2264, located 2,500 light-years away in our Milky Way Galaxy. The stars in this cluster vary in size, ranging from small to large, with masses from one-tenth to seven times that of our Sun.

The composite image enhances the tree-like appearance through color choices and image rotation. Wispy green lines depict the branches and needles of the tree, representing optical data. Blue and white lights symbolize X-rays detected by Chandra, resembling glowing lights on the tree. Infrared data shows white specks representing foreground and background stars against the darkness of space. The image has been rotated by about 150 degrees, placing the peak of the conical tree near the top. However, a slight bare patch in the tree’s branches at the lower right remains unchanged.

The release presents the festive cluster through both a static image and a short animation. In the animation, Chandra’s blue and white X-ray dots flicker and twinkle on the tree, resembling Christmas lights

All of us at NASA wish you a joyful and awe-inspiring holiday season!