M67 Open Cluster (aka NGC 2682)
Apparent Magnitude: 6.1
Distance: Aprox: 2,700 light-years
Constellation: Cancer
Star Count: Aprox 500
Diameter: 20 light-years
Messier 67, nicknamed the King Cobra Cluster, is an open cluster located in the northern constellation Cancer, the Crab. Messier 67 can be found roughly halfway and slightly above the imaginary line connecting the bright stars Regulus in Leo and Procyon in Canis Minor. The best time of year to observe M67 from northern latitudes is during the late winter and early spring. Messier 67 is one of the oldest known open clusters and the single oldest open cluster listed by Messier in his catalogue. The estimated age of M67 is in the range from 3.2 to 5 billion years. The average age of the stars in the cluster is around 4 billion years, which means that they are roughly the same age as the Sun and have similar elemental abundancies. Open clusters are typically younger and the stars tend to disperse over time, usually before they reach this age. For example, the Beehive Cluster (M44). The stars of M67, however, are expected to stay together for another 5 billion years before dissociating.
Features: Three confirmed extrasolar planets in M67
Taken 1/5/19 in Grand Rapids Ohio by Russell Kille on a CPC 1100 with Hyperstar @ F2 and ZWO ASI294MC Pro camera