NGC 2264

Merry Cosmos! Here’s your interstellar Christmas card from the universe in the form of a spectacular photograph of The Christmas Tree Nebula, or as its known to astronomers, NGC 2264. The photograph was taken by British photographer Greg Parker, who has published a book of wide-field astronomical images titled Star Vistas. The book is chock full of stunning celestial pictures taken by the New Forest professor using just commercially-available equipment and software.