King Cobra Cluster

Pierre Moutounet-Cartan
Apr 25
1 min read

About this object

Messier 67 (M67/NGC 2682), nicknamed the "King Cobra Cluster" for its sinuous chain of stars winding through the constellation Cancer, stands as one of the oldest and most studied open clusters in our galaxy at 4 billion years young. Located ~2,700 light-years away, this metal-rich ([Fe/H] ≈ +0.02) stellar family spans 15 light-years and hosts over 500 stars, including rare blue stragglers and Sun-like G-type stars that make it a key benchmark for stellar evolution research. With a dense core (trumpler class II,2,r) and apparent magnitude of +6.1, M67 defies typical open cluster lifespans by resisting tidal disruption—likely due to its orbit 1,500 light-years above the galactic plane. Visible in binoculars as a smudge and resolved in small telescopes, this ancient "laboratory" offers observers a chance to peer into our Sun’s future while tracing the dynamic history of the Milky Way’s disk.

(Fun fact: Its blue stragglers may be stellar "vampires" formed by binary mergers!)