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