This new image of NGC 2264, also known as the "Christmas Tree Cluster," shows the shape of a cosmic tree with the glow of stellar lights. NGC 2264 is, in fact, a cluster of young stars--with ages between about one and five million years old--in our Milky Way about 2,500 light-years away from Earth. 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.
This new image of NGC 2264, also known as the "Christmas Tree Cluster," shows the shape of a cosmic tree with the glow of stellar lights. NGC 2264 is, in fact, a cluster of young stars--with ages between about one and five million years old--in our Milky Way about 2,500 light-years away from Earth. 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.
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