# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C1NPEJ3JWsl
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/10434920-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/legacy-do/64fcdfd272f7d6da1deb174161454789f684d28d14a680dcd6ea36a419a38496.jpg
- **Posted:** 2023-12-23T19:11:08.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

A little star cluster hauling a Christmas tree. 🎄⁣
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Discovered about 2,500 light-years from Earth, the Christmas Tree Cluster is a bundle of young stars, most about 1 to 5 million years old. (For comparison, our Sun has been burning for 5 *billion* years.)⁣
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These stars give off X-rays that were picked up by our orbiting NASAChandraXRay observatory, and are depicted here in various shades of blue and white. They’re surrounded by a nebula of gas observed by other telescopes, shown here in green, giving this cluster (officially known as NGC 2264) its memorable nickname.⁣
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Image description: A triangle of green gas, resembling a Christmas tree, is filled with blue and white stars that look like Christmas ornaments. Other stars and astronomical phenomena fill the background of the image.⁣
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Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: T.A. Rector (NRAO/AUI/NSF and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA) and B.A. Wolpa (NOIRLab/NSF/AURA); Infrared: NASA/NSF/IPAC/CalTech/Univ. of Massachusetts; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare & J. Major⁣
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#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Astrophotography #ChristmasTree #ChristmasDecor #RedTruckChristmas

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## Tags

astronomy, christmasdecor, nasa, astrophotography, space, christmastree, redtruckchristmas

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