Messier 67 (Cancer)
Fig. 1 - One of the oldest known open clusters: Messier 67 in Cancer, photographed with a 16-inch f/4.5 Dob on an equatorial platform.
| Object name: | Constellation: | Coordinates: | Apparent size: | Visual brightness: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Messier 67 (=NGC 2682 | Cancer | 08h51m / +11°49' | 30' | 6.9 mag |
The open cluster Messier 67 (NGC 2682, also called King Cobra cluster) in the constellation Cancer. Messier 67 is one of the oldest known open clusters and contains about 500 stars. Estimates of its age range between 3.2 and 5 billion years. Messier 67 is 2,600 - 2,900 light-years from Earth and was discovered by Johann Gottfried Koehler in 1779 (source: Wikipedia).
Exposure time: 2h 20min (48x approx. 3min) at ISO 400 and ISO 800 (half of each), taken on February 19 / 20, 2021 and on April 4, 2021. Processing with DeepSkyStacker and Photoshop. No calibration frames were taken.
Equipment: Nikon D7500 Lifepixel h-alpha modified camera, TeleVue Universal Paracorr coma corrector, 16" f/4.5 "Ninja" dobsonian telescope riding on a dual-axis Tom Osypowski equatorial platform, Lacerta MGEN autoguider, Lacerta off axis system.
Field of view comparison: image of the moon with the same equipment.
Fig. 2 - Search chart for Messier 67. Copyright 2025 'The Mag-7 Star Atlas Project', www.siaris.net.