Bright Stars Illuminate A Cluster of Christmas Trees

This composite image shows a bunch of Christmas trees. The blue and white lights (which squint in the animated form of this image) are young stars that emit X-rays, characterized by NASA's Chandra X-beam Observatory. Optical information from the Public Science Establishment's 0.9-meter WIYN telescope on Kitt Pinnacle shows gas in the cloud in green compared to the "needle" of the tree, and infrared information from the Two Micron All Sky Overview shows foreground and background stars in white. This image has been rotated clockwise about 160 degrees from the north-up space expert standard, so that the highest point of the tree appears to be toward the highest point of the image.

This new image of NGC 2264, otherwise known as the "Christmas Tree Group," shows the state of a sprawling tree with a reflection of celestial lights. NGC 2264 is actually a group of young stars—between one and 5,000,000 years old—about 2,500 light-years from Earth in our smooth way. The stars in NGC 2264 are more modest and larger than the Sun, from some with masses below 10 solar masses to others containing around seven solar masses.

 Bright Stars Illuminate A Cluster of Christmas Trees

This new composite image enhances the shape of the Christmas tree through diversity and pivot decisions. The blue and white lights (which flicker in the animated edit of this image) are young stars that emit X-rays, which NASA's Chandra X-beam Observatory has identified. Optical information from the Public Science Establishment's 0.9-meter WIYN telescope on Kitt Pinnacle shows the gas in the cloud in green compared to the "needle" of the tree, and infrared information from the two-micron All Sky Overview shows a closer view and the underlying stars. in white. This image has been rotated clockwise about 160 degrees from the north-up space expert standard, so that the highest point of the tree appears to be toward the highest point of the image.

This composite image shows a bunch of Christmas trees. The blue and white lights (which squint in the charged form of this image) are young stars emitting X-rays identified by NASA's Chandra X-beam Observatory. Optical information from the Public Science Establishment's 0.9-meter WIYN telescope on Kitt Pinnacle shows gas in the cloud in green associated with the "needle" tree, and infrared information from the Two Micron All Sky Overview shows the foreground and background stars in white. This image has been rotated clockwise approximately 160 degrees from cosmologist north upward, so that the highest point of the tree appears to be toward the highest point of the image.

Young stars, like those in NGC 2264, are unstable and go through regions of X-ray strength and different kinds of variations seen in different kinds of light. However, the organized, twinkling varieties shown in this vividness are faked to highlight the regions of stars found in X-rays and represent the object's resemblance to a Christmas tree. In reality, the star varieties are not synchronized.

The varieties seen by Chandra and various telescopes yield several unique cycles. Some of these are associated with motion, including attractive fields, including flares like those the Sun has passed through—but considerably more remarkable—and problem areas and dim spots on stellar surfaces that sweep across the field of view as the stars rotate. Similarly, there can be changes in the thickness of the gas obscuring the stars, changes in how much material actually falls onto the stars from the rings of surrounding gas.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center handles the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-beam Center manages science missions from Cambridge, Massachusetts and flight activities from Burlington, Massachusetts.

Visual display:

This van contains a composite image of a group of young stars that look like a grandiose Christmas tree! The group, known as NGC 2264, is located in our Smooth Way system, about 2,500 light-years from Earth. Some of the stars in the cluster are moderately small, and some are generally massive, ranging from one-tenth to several times the mass of our Sun.

In this composite image, the bunch's resemblance to a Christmas tree has been enhanced through image rotation and variety decisions. The optical information is handled by fine green lines and shapes that make the branches and needles take shape in the shape of a tree. Characterized by Chandra, the X-rays are presented as blue and white lights and appear as sparkling bits of light on a tree. The infrared information shows the foreground and background stars as glowing patches of white against the darkness of the room. The image was rotated about 150 degrees from the space expert's north standard upwards. This brings the top of the generally conical shape of the tree closer to the highest point of the image, but does not address the slightly exposed fixation in the tree branches in the lower right, which should probably be moved to the corner.

In this delivery, the merry band is introduced as a still image as well as a brief animation. Chandra's blue-and-white X-beam speckles sparkle and twinkle on the tree as it moves, much like the lights on a Christmas tree.