The Christmas Tree Cluster: NGC 2264 with Blinking X-rays | NASA Chandra

The Christmas Tree Cluster: NGC 2264 with Blinking X-rays | NASA Chandra

The “Christmas Tree Cluster,” or NGC 2264, shows a cluster of young stars between one and five million years old. (For comparison, the Sun is a middle-aged star about 5 billion years old—about 1,000 times older.) NGC 2264 is about 2,500 light-years from Earth. NASA Chandra X-ray Telescope data (red, purple, blue, and white) has been combined with optical data (green and violet) captured from by astrophotographer Michael Clow from his telescope in Arizona in November 2024.

Here, wispy green clouds in a conical shape strongly resemble an evergreen tree. Tiny specks of white, blue, purple, and red light, stars within the cluster, dot the structure, turning the cloud into a festive, cosmic Christmas tree!

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.

Credits: 

X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO

Optical: Michael Clow
Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare and K. Arcand 
Video: NASA/CXC/A. Hobart

Duration: 12 seconds
Release Date: Dec. 17, 2024

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