Messier 67 – Birthplace of the Sun?
March 6, 2024
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Messier 67 (M67), the King Cobra Cluster, 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 contains more than 100 sun-like stars. 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.
Alas, 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.




Finding Chart

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Image Capture
Location:
Deep Sky West
Camera:
Total integration: 37h 44m
Integration per filter:
- Lum: 7h 6m (142 × 180")
- R: 4h 42m (94 × 180")
- G: 4h 30m (90 × 180")
- B: 4h 21m (87 × 180")
- Hα: 17h 5m (205 × 300")
Coordinates: 8h 48m 51s · +11° 52′ 28″
Moravian C5a-100M








