Article:
NASA has captured an incredible image of what appears to be a Christmas tree in the stars, spreading holiday cheer from deep space.
The space phenomenon, known as NGC 2264 or the “Christmas Tree Cluster,” is a cluster of young stars aged between one and five million years old. NASA’s telescope captured the image of this cosmic tree, located in the Milk Way about 2,500 light-years from Earth.
The stars in NGC 2264 are both smaller and larger than the Sun and the image captured by NASA shows the cluster that has been rotated about 160 degrees, putting the peak of the conical tree shape near the top. The image has been enhanced to emphasize the Christmas tree resemblance and the green gas in the cluster represents the tree’s “pine needles.”
In addition to the Christmas tree cluster, NASA also released the first-ever high-definition video from deep space, showcasing newly-formed stars in clusters that look like blinking Christmas lights. These new stars are volatile and can cause strong flares when captured by X-rays and other types of variations seen through different types of light.
The “blinking lights” in the video were artificially created to emphasize the locations of the stars seen in NASA’s X-rays and the stars are not synchronized in real life.
The image and video have captured the imagination of people around the world and have brought a sense of cosmic holiday cheer during this festive season.
The images and video were made available by NASA and are copyrighted by Nexstar Media Inc. All rights are reserved and the material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.