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Good morning. It's December 20, and today's image showcases two astronomical objects—the Cone Nebula and the Christmas Tree Cluster—that combined are known as NGC 2264. (NGC, by the way, stands for New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars).
These astronomical objects are found about 2,300 light-years from Earth, and because they are relatively close, they are popular astronomical objects to observe in the night sky. This is a composite image from NASA and other organizations that combines observations from NASA's Chandra X-ray observatory along with those from ground-based telescopes. The image has been rotated clockwise 160 degrees so that the "Christmas tree" appears standing.
So yes, if you looked into the night sky, this is not what you would see. But even astronomers like to celebrate Christmas, you know?
Happy holidays, everyone. I'll be back with one final image on Thursday before taking a holiday break.
Source: NASA et. al.
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