The American agency adorns the star cluster NGC 2264 with splendid festive ornaments.
Every year, different municipalities around the world compete for the record for the largest Christmas tree. However, the selection criteria are not as simple as one might think, because the definition of this holiday icon can change as needed. Like the town of Stonewall in Louisiana, which decided to transform a radio tower into a “ Christmas structure » 92 meters high.
But, in this game, it will be difficult to beat the universe and its ” Christmas Tree Cluster “.
Combining data from several observatories
Tonight, if you look at the sky towards the constellation Unicorn, you may be able to see a recognizable shape there. Provided, of course, you have a good telescope. Fortunately, NASA and teams from the Chandra X-ray Observatory have trained their lenses on the cluster NGC 2264 to better show us what it is.
Located in the Milky Way, more than 2,000 light years from our good old Earth, this grouping of stars “ one to five million years old » looks like a fir tree, from our point of view. At least, by cheating a little, because NASA had to rotate its photo 160 degrees compared to the astronomical standard.
In addition, the agency had to combine several sets of data from optical, infrared and X-ray telescopes to decorate it with Christmas decorations. Thus, while the optical data “ are represented by green lines and shapes “, the information detected by Chandra ” are represented by blue and white lights and look like points of light on the tree », We can read on the observatory’s website.
The icing on the cake is that NASA took the liberty of generating a little animation to make this improvised garland flash. What to put Buzz Aldrin « in the holiday spirit », while wishing us a Merry Christmas in passing.
Source : NASA
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