chandra_818 December 19th, 2023
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.Major
This image of NGC 2264, also known as the "Christmas Tree Cluster," shows young stars — with ages between about one and five million years old — in our Milky Way. The stars in NGC 2264 are both less massive and more massive than the Sun, ranging from some with less than a tenth the mass of the Sun to others containing about seven solar masses. This composite image includes Chandra data of young stars (blue and white), optical data from the WIYN telescope on Kitt Peak showing gas in the cluster (green), and infrared data from the 2MASS showing foreground and background stars (white). This image has been rotated clockwise by about 160 degrees from astronomers' standard of North pointing upward.
Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory
Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2023/ngc2264/
Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA
Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html
Detailed color mapping information coming soon...
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