Date: 4/22/2009
Telescope: Orion 8" f/4.9
Camera: Canon 10D (modified)
Exposures: 20x600 seconds @ ISO400
Location: Mocksville, NC
Temp: 45F
Seeing: 2/5
Transparency: 4/5
Captured in Canon Raw, stacked using DeepSkyStacker, processed in Photoshop.
Messier 3 (also known as
M3 or
NGC 5272) is a
globular cluster in the
constellation Canes Venatici. It was discovered by
Charles Messier in
1764, and resolved into stars by
William Herschel around 1784. This cluster is one of the largest and brightest, and is made up of around 500,000 stars. It is located at a distance of about 33,900
light-years away from
Earth. M3 has an
apparent magnitude of 6.2, making it visible to the
naked eye under dark conditions. From a moderate-sized telescope, the cluster is fully defined.