NASA, who often brings us admirable photos of the cosmos, shared a brand new image. Image, NGC 2264 It belongs to the mentioned star cluster. The cluster is also called the ‘Christmas tree cluster’ because of its shape.

The photo of NGC 2264 that NASA shared as Christmas approaches really does look like a Christmas tree. The Christmas tree-like resemblance of this composite image, captured in collaboration with the Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes, has been enhanced by color enhancements and image rotation techniques.

New photo of Christmas tree cluster NGC 2264:

The blue and white lights you can see in the animation below are X-ray scattering objects detected by the Chandra Observatory. young stars. The US National Science Foundation’s WIYN telescope is also in the cluster. gases green and reveals the part that we can describe as “pine needles”.

An astronomy research organization called 2MASS analyzes foreground and background stars with infrared data. white It shows as . Rotating the photo 160 degrees clockwise also gives it a tree-like appearance. Of course, it should be noted that the coordinated flashing parts in the animation you see above are artificial. The reason for this is to emphasize the positions of the stars and show the similarity to a Christmas tree. In reality, the stars’ changes are not that synchronized.

NGC 2264, located in the Milky Way, is 2,500 light-years away from Earth. This majestic cluster is aging Of young stars ranging from 1 to 5 million is formed. NGC 2264’s stars include stars smaller and larger than the Sun. Some of the larger ones can have up to seven times the mass of the Sun.