'Christmas Tree Cluster' stars shine bright: 'It's beginning to look a lot like cosmos'
NASA is getting into the holiday spirit with images from one of its telescopes showing a bright green cluster of young stars resembling a Christmas tree.
The space agency released images of the Christmas Tree Cluster, known as NGC 2264, on Dec. 19, in time for the holidays.
The cluster of stars is in the Milky Way, about 2,500 light years from Earth.
MORE: NASA: Life may exist in oceans, geysers of 17 icy exoplanets
The images were released on December 19, just in time for the holidays. According to NASA the cluster known as NGC 2264 is a group of young stars in our Milky Way about 2,500 light-years away from Earth.
![](https://images.foxtv.com/static.livenowfox.com/www.livenowfox.com/content/uploads/2023/12/932/524/NASA-star.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Christmas Tree Cluster of stars captured by NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory.
"It's beginning to look a lot like cosmos," NASA joked on Twitter.
NASA says the blue and white lights are young stars that emit X-rays, detected by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.
MORE: Mysterious never-before-seen deep space radio signal found beyond Milky Way
Also this week, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured a dynamic image of Uranus just in time to "ring" in the holidays.
![](https://images.foxtv.com/static.livenowfox.com/www.livenowfox.com/content/uploads/2023/12/932/524/Uranus-edit.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
FILE - This image of Uranus from NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope exquisitely captures Uranus’s seasonal north polar cap and dim inner and outer rings. This Webb image also shows 9 of the planet’s 27 moons – clockwis (NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI)
The glowing ice giant was captured in exquisite detail, and Webb actually managed to get a glimpse at Uranus’ most elusive ring, Zeta, which can be seen as the faintest ring closest to the blue planet.
FOX’s Catherine Stoddard contributed to this report.