A new Christmas wreath-like image captures young stars illuminating dense, dark clouds of dust. The protagonist of this photo is the star cluster NGC602 in the Small Magellanic Cloud.A galaxy near the Milky Way. This composite photo combines X-ray data from Chandra (shown in red) andInfrared data from the James Webb Space Telescope (shown in orange, yellow, green, and blue). Chandra's X-rays highlight the powerful stellar winds generated by the massive young stars scattered throughout the cluster.

NGC2264, "The Christmas Tree Cluster". Source: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: Clow, M.; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L.Frattare and K.Arcand editorsNGC 602 is a star cluster located on the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, one of the galaxies closest to the Milky Way. The images combine X-ray data from Chandra and infrared data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The dark ring-like structures in the JWST data are composed of dense dust clouds. Chandra's X-rays show that young, massive stars are lighting up dust clouds, sending high-energy light into interstellar space. These X-rays are driven by winds produced by young, massive stars scattered throughout the cluster. Source: X-ray: NASA/CXC; Infrared: ESA/Webb, NASA&CSA, P.Zeilder, E.Sabbi, A.Nota, M.Zamani; ImageProcessing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L.Frattare and K.Arcand

The wreath symbolizes the cycle of life, death and rebirth, so it is particularly appropriate for astronomers to study the life cycles of stars in what resembles a giant holiday wreath.

This place is the star cluster NGC602, located on the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a neighboring galaxy to the Milky Way, about 200,000 light-years away from the Milky Way. The stars in NGC 602 contain fewer heavy elements than most stars in the Sun and the Milky Way. This environment reflects conditions in the universe billions of years ago, giving us a glimpse into the early days of star formation.

This new image combinesData from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and previously released images from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. The dark, ring-like outlines of the wreath seen in Webb's data (shown in orange, yellow, green and blue) are composed of dense clouds of filled dust.

Meanwhile, X-rays from Chandra (red) show young, massive stars lighting up the garland, sending high-energy light into interstellar space. These X-rays are driven by winds produced by young, massive stars scattered throughout the cluster. The extended clouds in the Chandra data likely come from overlapping X-ray light from thousands of young, low-mass stars in the cluster.

This stunning new image of the "Christmas Tree Cluster" captures the brilliant light of a stellar nursery. Source: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: Clow, M.; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare and K. Arcand

In addition to this cosmic garland, there is now a new version of the "Christmas Tree Cluster". Like NGC 602, NGC 2264 is a cluster of young stars between 1 million and 5 million years old (for comparison, the Sun is a middle-aged star about 5 billion years old and 1,000 times more massive). Chandra data (red, green and blue) are combined with optical data (green and white) captured by astrophotographer Michael Clow at a telescope in Arizona in November 2024 in this image of NGC 2264, which is closer to Earth than NGC 602 and is about 2,500 light-years away.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations in Burlington, Massachusetts.

Compiled from /ScitechDaily