Nasa discovers 'Christmas Tree Cluster' sparkling in cosmic emerald glory

Nasa revealed its discovery of NGC 2264, a cluster of young stars that has an uncanny resemblance to a Christmas tree encircled by dazzling lights this week.

The "Christmas Tree Cluster" is a group of stars in the Milky Way that are between one and five million years old. It is situated about 2,500 light-years from Earth as reported by People.

Nasa stated on its website, releasing a composite image of the new cluster, saying “the stars in NGC 2264 are both smaller and larger than the sun, ranging from some with less than a tenth the mass of the sun to others containing about seven solar masses.”

“The blue and white lights are young stars that give off X-rays detected by Nasa’s Chandra X-ray Observatory,” the agency added. “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.”

Young stars like those in this cluster are described by Nasa as "volatile," prone to "strong flares in X-rays and other types of variations seen in different types of light." 

The composite image has an animated version with blinking lights, but it was made intentionally to demonstrate where the stars visible in X-rays are located.

“In reality, the variations of the stars are not synchronised,” said the agency.