Chandra Release - November 7, 2012

Visual Description: Cygnus OB2

The composite image of the star cluster Cygnus OB2 features a stunning display of celestial objects, including stars, nebulas, and gas clouds.  The color palette of the image is moody, dominated by shades of dark red, orange and greenish-yellow with a small sprinkle of blue dots, creating a warm and vibrant atmosphere. The colors are reminiscent of a smokey sunset. For texture, there is a concentration of tiny stars, and a layer of nebulous text and gaseous clouds.   At a relatively nearby distance to Earth of about 5,000 light years, Cygnus OB2 is the closest massive cluster. Deep observations with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory of Cygnus OB2 have been used to detect the X-ray emission from the hot outer atmospheres, or coronas, of young stars in the cluster and to probe how these great star factories form and evolve. About 1,700 X-ray sources were detected, including about 1,450 thought to be stars in the cluster. In this image, X-rays from Chandra (colored in blue) have been combined with infrared data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (red) and optical data from the Isaac Newton Telescope (greenish-yellow).