M67 generated a great deal of excitement a few years back because it looked like it might be an excellent candidate as place where our sun, our solar system, and, hence, our lives began. The cluster is about four billion years old---roughly the same age as the sun. Its chemical composition is very similar to that of our star. And it's close enough at only 2,600 to 2,900 light years away that the sun could have been part of it when the sun was born.
Sadly,
more recent analysis concludes that M67 could not have been where our world was made. None of this is earth-shattering (so to speak) news. But it would have been fun to continue to think we might have a handle on where our existence in the universe originated---at least in a more specific, localized, sense. Meanwhile, the search continues.
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