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Observers note that Comet C/2025 R2 SWAN suddenly developed a rare sunward antitail—nearly identical

The Cosmic Christmas Tree is lit: about 2,500 light-years away in Monoceros, the star cluster NGC 2264 now looks like holiday lights

A new composite image shows young stars sparkling in electric blue and white like tiny fairy lights, while emerald-green clouds of interstellar gas trace evergreen-like branches

These stars are very young, roughly 1 to 5 million years old; the blue-white flashes are X-rays captured by Chandra, and in animations they even flicker with the stars' natural variability

To make the resemblance unmistakable, the scene was rotated roughly 160° clockwise so it truly resembles a towering, dazzling Christmas tree

Somewhere out there, the cosmos has already hung its ornaments and switched the lights on; Merry Christmas from deep space

Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: T.A. Rector & B.A. Wolpa; Infrared: NASA/NSF/IPAC/CalTech/Univ. of Massachusetts; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare & J. Major