(WJET/WFXP) — A space phenomenon is spreading some holiday cheer with what looks like a Christmas tree in the stars.
NASA said that a telescope captured an image of NGC 2264, which is a cluster of young stars aged between one and five million years old.
NGC 2264 — also known as the “Christmas Tree Cluster” since it looks like a cosmic tree with strings of glowing lights — can be found in the Milk Way, about 2,500 light-years from Earth.
According to NASA, the stars in NGC 2264 are both smaller and larger than the Sun.
The image below shows the cluster that has been rotated about 160 degrees from the astronomer’s standard of North pointing upwards. This puts the peak of the conical tree shape near the top.
As for the green gas in the cluster, NASA said that represents the tree’s “pine needles.”
In the video player above, you can also see newly-formed stars in clusters, which look similar to blinking Christmas lights.
NASA said those 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. The stars are not synchronized in real life.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Dr. Sarah Adams is a scientist and science communicator who makes complex topics accessible to all. Her articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to cutting-edge research.
