The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has released an incredible photo of a space Christmas tree, bringing an extraterrestrial element to the holiday spirit as people around the globe prepare for the festive season.
The picture, according to the space agency, shows a group of young stars that strikingly resemble a cosmic Christmas tree. The cluster, designated as NGC 2264, is located roughly 2,500 light-years from Earth in our Milky Way galaxy. The stars in the cluster range in size from one tenth to seven times the mass of our sun, with some being relatively small and others being relatively large.

Image rotation and color selections in this composite image have improved the cluster’s resemblance to a Christmas tree. The thin green lines and shapes that make up the tree’s boughs and needles are optical data’s representation.

According to an image article published by the space agency, young stars such as those found in NGC 2264 are unstable and can experience powerful X-ray flares as well as other kinds of variations in various light wavelengths. However, the orchestrated, blinking variations displayed in this animation are man-made, intended to draw attention to the similarities between this object and a Christmas tree and to emphasize the locations of the stars seen in X-rays. The variations of the stars are actually not synchronized.

Many distinct processes are responsible for the variations that Chandra and other telescopes have observed. Some of these are associated with magnetic field activity; these include flares similar to the Sun’s, but much more intense, as well as hot spots and dark patches on star surfaces that pass in and out of sight as the stars rotate. Additionally, variations in the amount of material still falling onto the stars from disks of surrounding gas and variations in the thickness of gas obscuring the stars are possible.