NGC 6067 is anopen cluster in theconstellationNorma. It is located to the north ofKappa Normae, with anangular diameter of 12′. Visible to the naked eye in dark skies,[4][5] it is best observed with binoculars or a small telescope, and a 12-inch aperture telescope will reveal about 250 stars.[3][6] Discovered byJames Dunlop in 1826, it has been described byJohn Herschel 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".[7] Its brightest stars have an apparent magnitude of around 8.[8] There are 84 member stars with an apparent magnitude brighter than 12.[9]
NGC 6067 is located in theNorma Star Cloud in theNorma Arm of theMilky Way[7] and is 15 to 20 times as rich as thePleiades and about the same age.[10] It is thought to be around 102 million years old, and contain 893 solar masses.[2] TwoCepheid variables,QZ Normae andV340 Normae, have been identified as members of the cluster, while a third nearby Cepheid—GU Normae—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.[11] V340 Normae is a yellow supergiant of spectral type G0Ib that varies between magnitudes 8.26 and 8.60 over 11.28 days,[12] while the fainter QZ Normae varies between magnitudes 8.71 and 9.03 over 3.79 days.[13] It is also home to one of only a fewplanetary nebulae associated with galactic clusters (open orglobular). The cluster, named BMP J1613-5406, originated from a progenitor star that is notably massive.[14]
^abBakich, Michael E. (2010).1001 Celestial Wonders to See Before You Die: The Best Sky Objects for Star Gazers. Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series. New York, New York: Springer. p. 190.ISBN978-1-4419-1776-8.
^Cooper, Ian; Kay, Jenni; Kepple, George Robert (2008).The Night Sky Observer's Guide Vol 3: Th Southern Skies. Willmann-Bell, Inc. p. 257.ISBN9780943396897.
^Thackeray, A D; Wesselink, A J; Harding, G A (1962). "The Cluster NGC 6067".Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.124:445–459.Bibcode:1962MNRAS.124..445T.doi:10.1093/mnras/124.6.445 (inactive 12 July 2025).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)
^Watson, Christopher (4 January 2010)."QZ Normae".The International Variable Star Index. American Association of Variable Star Observers. Retrieved16 June 2015.
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