US EditionA Christmas Tree 80 Light-Years Wide Appears in Space
NGC 2264 spans nearly 80 light-years and features emission and reflection nebulae shaped by newborn stars and interstellar gas, illuminating the cosmic Christmas Tree cluster.
- On December 25, 2025, NASA highlighted NGC 2264 about 2,700 light-years away, featuring young stars forming the triangular Christmas Tree cluster.
- Clouds of interstellar gas and dust supply raw materials as young stars ignite, releasing energy that forms emission nebulae, dark dust lanes, and blue reflection nebulae in NGC 2264.
- Spanning about 1.5 degrees—roughly the width of three full moons—the region measures nearly 80 light-years across, topped by the Cone Nebula and textured below by the Fox Fur Nebula.
- The scene offers astronomers NGC 2264 as a laboratory with its glowing clouds and young stars, while skywatchers and astrophotographers find it a recognizable target.
- Astronomers catalogue objects like NGC 2264 to identify deep-sky regions in the Monoceros constellation near the celestial equator and Milky Way's disk, aiding study and visibility.
12 Articles
12 Articles
A Christmas tree 80 light-years wide appears in space
This Christmas, astronomers are highlighting a spectacular region of space that looks remarkably like a glowing holiday tree. Known as NGC 2264, this distant star-forming region sits about 2,700 light-years away and is filled with newborn stars lighting up clouds of gas and dust. The stars form a triangular shape called the Christmas Tree cluster, crowned by the dramatic Cone Nebula and wrapped in the swirling Fox Fur Nebula below. Together, the…
A Cosmic Christmas Tree Lights Up the Milky Way
Just in time for Christmas, a vast star-forming region shaped like a Christmas tree is lighting up space 2,700 light-years from Earth. NGC 2264 is a vast region of space where new stars are actively forming, located about 2,700 light-years from Earth in the faint constellation Monoceros, also known as the Unicorn. Astronomers use catalog [...]
In the middle of the Christmas season, NASA shared an image that caught the attention of millions of people on social networks: a Christmas tree in space. The image was disseminated by the space agency as part of its special scientific outreach content during the decembrinas holidays. What is the “Christmas tree” captured in space by NASA? According to NASA, the photograph corresponds to the star cluster NGC 2264, located approximately 2,500 lig…
A 2,500 light-year-old image of the Earth turned a cluster of young stars into a star Christmas tree that already roams the world. The post A Christmas tree appears in space in a scientific image spread by NASA appeared first on El Diario.
NASA shared an image of the NGC 2264 cluster, known as the “Christmas Tree”, located in space.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shared an image of a “Christmas tree” that was formed in space, it is a cluster of young stars located about 2,500 light years from Earth. Subscribe to our Telegram channel and carry the information in your hands. Christmas tree in space According to NASA's publication, it is the “NGC 2264”, a cluster of young stars between one and five million years old. These stars are larger than the Su…
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