The stars in this cluster are between one and 5 million years old, compared to the Suns age of 5 billion years old.Young stars are unstable and produce strong flares in X-rays and other types of light, but not in any coordinated way as is revealed in the animation.Cosmic Christmas Tree: NGC 2264s Stellar SpectacleThis brand-new image of NGC 2264, also known as the “Christmas Tree Cluster,” reveals the shape of a cosmic tree with the glow of stellar lights. Some of these are associated to activity including magnetic fields, consisting of flares like those gone through by the Sun– but much more effective– and hot areas and dark regions on the surfaces of the stars that go in and out of view as the stars rotate. There can also be changes in the density of gas obscuring the stars, and changes in the amount of material still falling onto the stars from disks of surrounding gas.NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center handles the Chandra program.
The “Christmas Tree Cluster,” NGC 2264, is a cluster of young stars in the Milky Way, about 2,500 light-years from Earth. This composite image, improved by particular color options and rotation, portrays these stars, varying in size, as part of a cosmic Christmas tree. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: T.A. Rector (NRAO/AUI/NSF and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA) and B.A. Wolpa (NOIRLab/NSF/AURA); Infrared: NASA/NSF/IPAC/ CalTech/Univ. of Massachusetts; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/ L. Frattare & & J.MajorNGC 2264, the “Christmas Tree Cluster,” is a star cluster in the Milky Way, illustrated in a newly improved image to look like a cosmic Christmas tree.NGC 2264 is a cluster of young stars that has been colored and rotated to highlight its label of the “Christmas Tree Cluster.”This composite image contains X-rays from Chandra (blue and white), optical data from WIYN (green gas), and infrared information from 2MASS (white stars). The stars in this cluster are between one and five million years old, compared to the Suns age of 5 billion years old.Young stars are unpredictable and produce strong flares in X-rays and other types of light, but not in any coordinated method as is displayed in the animation.Cosmic Christmas Tree: NGC 2264s Stellar SpectacleThis new picture of NGC 2264, also called the “Christmas Tree Cluster,” shows the shape of a cosmic tree with the glow of excellent lights. NGC 2264 is, in truth, a cluster of young stars– with ages in between about one and five million years of ages– in our Milky Way about 2,500 light-years far from Earth. The stars in NGC 2264 are both smaller sized and bigger than the Sun, ranging from some with less than a tenth the mass of the Sun to others containing about seven solar masses.A Festive Composite Image: Colors and RotationThis new composite image boosts the resemblance to a Christmas tree through choices of color and rotation. The blue and white lights (which blink in the animated variation– see video listed below) are young stars that produce X-rays discovered by NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory. Optical data from the National Science Foundation-supported WIYN 0.9-meter telescope on Kitt Peak reveals a nebula of gas in the cluster in green, corresponding to the “pine needles” of the tree. Infrared information from the Two Micron All Sky Survey shows foreground and background stars in white. This image has been rotated clockwise by 160 degrees from the astronomers requirement of North pointing upward, so that it appears like the top of the tree is toward the top of the image.This composite image shows the Christmas Tree Cluster. The white and blue lights (which blink in the animated variation of this image) are young stars that produce X-rays identified by NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory. Optical information from the National Science Foundations WIYN 0.9-meter telescope on Kitt Peak shows gas in the nebula in green, representing the “pine needles” of the tree, and infrared data from the Two Micron All Sky Survey reveals foreground and background stars in white. This image has actually been turned clockwise by about 160 degrees from the astronomers requirement of North pointing upward, so that it looks like the top of the tree is towards the top of the image.Stellar Dynamics and Observation TechniquesYoung stars, like those in NGC 2264, are unpredictable and produce strong flares in X-rays and other types of variations seen at different wavelengths of light. The collaborated, blinking variations shown in this animation, however, are synthetic, to stress the areas of the stars seen in X-rays and highlight the resemblance of this item to a Christmas tree. In truth the variations of the stars are not synchronized.The variations observed by Chandra and other telescopes are triggered by several different procedures. Some of these relate to activity including magnetic fields, including flares like those gone through by the Sun– however much more powerful– and locations and dark regions on the surface areas of the stars that enter and out of view as the stars turn. There can also be modifications in the thickness of gas obscuring the stars, and changes in the quantity of product still falling onto the stars from disks of surrounding gas.NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatorys Chandra X-ray Center manages science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
