Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cancer (Cnc)  ·  Contains:  M 67  ·  NGC 2682
M67 RGB, Sergiy_Vakulenko
Powered byPixInsight

M67 RGB

M67 RGB, Sergiy_Vakulenko
Powered byPixInsight

M67 RGB

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

At the center of this image are the stars of Messier 67, one of the oldest known open star clusters. In fact, though open star clusters are usually much younger, the stars of M67 are likely around 4 billion years old. Open clusters are almost always younger because they are dispersed over time as they encounter other stars, interstellar clouds, and experience gravitational tides while orbiting the center of our galaxy. Still, M67 contains over 500 stars or so and lies some 2,800 light-years away in the constellation Cancer. At that estimated distance, M67 would be about 12 light-years across.

I'm not entirely satisfied with the picture, however it is what it is - the color channels were taken on different days and under completely different conditions, e.g. M67 was imaged as filler object while awaiting for main target.

Comments

Sky plot

Sky plot

Histogram

M67 RGB, Sergiy_Vakulenko