Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cancer (Cnc)  ·  Contains:  M 67  ·  NGC 2682
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M67,  King Cobra cluster, Golden Eye cluster, Doug Summers
M67,  King Cobra cluster, Golden Eye cluster
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M67, King Cobra cluster, Golden Eye cluster

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M67,  King Cobra cluster, Golden Eye cluster, Doug Summers
M67,  King Cobra cluster, Golden Eye cluster
Powered byPixInsight

M67, King Cobra cluster, Golden Eye cluster

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Description

Messier 67 is an open cluster in Cancer.  It's one of the oldest open clusters known, with an estimated age between 3 and 5 billion years.   Given that open clusters typically spread out as they rotate around the galaxy's arms, it's surprising that this cluster remains intact.  It lies 2.5K-3.0K light years away.    The cluster has approximately the same apparent size as the full moon (30 arcmins).  The cluster contains upwards of 500 stars.    Not particularly photogenic, M67 receives less photographic attention than other prominent open clusters.

Note the couple of small galaxies gracing the right side of the cluster;  I didn't platesolve for those, but I suspect these are either IC or UGC objects.

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M67,  King Cobra cluster, Golden Eye cluster, Doug Summers