Open Cluster in Cancer

Messier 67 is a fairly bright open cluster of some 200 stars. It is estimated to be about 5 billion years old, making it one of the oldest known open clusters. Messier 67 is not as well known as the nearby Beehive Cluster (Messier 44), but it is quite an attractive object when viewed with a small telescope at low power.

The next image of Messier 67 was taken at about twice the focal length, providing a larger image that was used to test the limiting magnitude of my telescope and camera set-up.

Image details:  15 images, each 120 seconds at ISO 1600, taken with a Canon 400D camera through a Meade 12” telescope at f/5.4. 

February 2009