NGC 6067 is an

open cluster An open cluster is a type of star cluster made of up to a few thousand stars that were formed from the same giant molecular cloud and have roughly the same age. More than 1,100 open clusters have been discovered within the Milky Way galaxy, and ...

in the

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

Norma Norma may refer to: * Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Astronomy *Norma (constellation) * 555 Norma, a minor asteroid *Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral arm in the Milky Way galaxy Geography *Norma, Lazi ...

. It is located to the north of

Kappa Normae Kappa Normae, Latinized from κ Normae, is a solitary, yellow hued star in the southern constellation of Norma. Its apparent magnitude is 4.94, which is bright enough to be faintly visible to the naked eye. Based upon an annual paralla ...

, with an

angular diameter The angular diameter, angular size, apparent diameter, or apparent size is an angular distance describing how large a sphere or circle appears from a given point of view. In the vision sciences, it is called the visual angle, and in optics, it is ...

of 12. Visible to the naked eye in dark skies, it is best observed with binoculars or a small telescope, and a 12-inch aperture telescope will reveal about 250 stars. Discovered by

James Dunlop James Dunlop FRSE (31 October 1793 – 22 September 1848) was a Scottish astronomer, noted for his work in Australia. He was employed by Sir Thomas Brisbane to work as astronomer's assistant at his private observatory, once located at Paramat ...

in 1826, it has been described by

John Herschel Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Baronet (; 7 March 1792 – 11 May 1871) was an English polymath active as a mathematician, astronomer, chemist, inventor, experimental photographer who invented the blueprint and did botanical wor ...

as "a most superbly rich and large cluster" and by Stephen James O'Meara as "one of the sky's most stunning open star clusters". Its brightest stars have an apparent magnitude of around 8. There are 84 member stars with an apparent magnitude brighter than 12. NGC 6067 is located in the

Norma Star Cloud Star clusters are large groups of stars. Two main types of star clusters can be distinguished: globular clusters are tight groups of ten thousand to millions of old stars which are gravitationally bound, while open clusters are more loosely clu ...

in the

Norma Arm The Norma Arm is a minor spiral arm of the Milky Way extending from and around its central hub region. The inner portion of the Arm is called the ''Norma Arm'' in narrow meaning. The outer part of it is identified either with the Cygnus Arm, whic ...

of the

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...

and is 15 to 20 times as rich as the

Pleiades The Pleiades (), also known as The Seven Sisters, Messier 45 and other names by different cultures, is an asterism and an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars in the north-west of the constellation Taurus. At a distance of ...

and about the same age. It is thought to be around 102 million years old, and contain 893 solar masses. Two

Cepheid variable A Cepheid variable () is a type of star that pulsates radially, varying in both diameter and temperature and producing changes in brightness with a well-defined stable period and amplitude. A strong direct relationship between a Cepheid varia ...

s, QZ Normae and

V340 Normae V34, or similar, may refer to: * Brazilian corvette ''Barroso'' (V34) * Fokker V.34, a German prototype fighter aircraft of World War I * V.34, a telecommunications recommendation of the ITU-T {{Letter-NumberCombDisambig ...

, have been identified as members of the cluster, while a third nearby Cepheid—

GU Normae GU, Gu, or gu may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Gu (instrument), Chinese drums ** Bangu (drum) () or Gu (), a Chinese "flowerpot" drum * '' Global Underground'', an electronic dance music compilation series Other media * GU Comics, a ...

—is considerably closer. Its period is only 3.5 days compared with the longer period of V340 Normae, indicating it is intrinsically less luminous (and hence closer), and its age has been estimated at 134 million years and hence too old to belong to the cluster. V340 Normae is a yellow supergiant of spectral type G0Ib that varies between magnitudes 8.26 and 8.60 over 11.28 days, while the fainter QZ Normae varies between magnitudes 8.71 and 9.03 over 3.79 days. It is also home to one of only a few

planetary nebula A planetary nebula (PN, plural PNe) is a type of emission nebula consisting of an expanding, glowing shell of ionized gas ejected from red giant stars late in their lives. The term "planetary nebula" is a misnomer because they are unrelated to ...

e associated with galactic clusters (

open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' (YF ...

globular A globular cluster is a spheroidal conglomeration of stars. Globular clusters are bound together by gravity, with a higher concentration of stars towards their centers. They can contain anywhere from tens of thousands to many millions of member ...

). The cluster, named BMP J1613-5406, originated from a progenitor star that is notably massive.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:NGC 6067

NGC 6067 NGC 6067 is an open cluster in the constellation Norma. It is located to the north of Kappa Normae, with an angular diameter of 12. Visible to the naked eye in dark skies, it is best observed with binoculars or a small telescope, and a 12-inch ...

6067 Norma (constellation) Astronomical objects discovered in 1826