This composite image shows the Christmas Tree Cluster. The blue and white lights (which blink in the animated version of this image) are young stars that give off X-rays detected by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. Optical data from the National Science Foundation’s WIYN 0.9-meter telescope on Kitt Peak shows gas in the nebula in green, corresponding to the “pine needles” of the tree, and infrared data from the Two Micron All Sky Survey shows foreground and background stars in white. This image has been rotated clockwise by about 160 degrees from the astronomer’s standard of North pointing upward, so that it appears like the top of the tree is toward the top of the image.
Related posts
-
SpaceX launches 27 Starlink satellites to orbit from California
SpaceX sent 27 of its Starlink internet satellites toward low Earth orbit from California this evening... -
SpinLaunch wants to send 250 broadband ‘microsatellites’ to orbit with a single launch
SpinLaunch has unveiled its plans for a new broadband satellite constellation known as Meridian Space. The... -
I’m going to a huge astronomy expo to see the latest telescope tech this weekend. I won’t be alone.
A small town in New York is about to become stargazing central for thousands of space...