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Messier 3 (NGC 5272) is a large, bright globular cluster in the constellation Canes Venatici, located approximately 33,900 light-years from Earth. It is among the largest and most populous globular clusters known, containing roughly half a million stars bound together by gravity, and is especially notable for hosting one of the largest known populations of variable stars, particularly RR Lyrae-type pulsators. Like most globulars, M3 is an ancient object, with stars dating back many billions of years to the early history of the Milky Way's halo. For imagers, it is a striking target for resolving a dense, sparkling core of individual stars against a smooth, symmetric glow, and benefits from good seeing and moderate focal length to render the tightly packed core without excessive star bloat.
[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_3]
Messier 3 (NGC 5272) is a large, bright globular cluster in the constellation Canes Venatici, located approximately 33,900 light-years from Earth. It is among the largest and most populous globular clusters known, containing roughly half a million stars bound together by gravity, and is especially notable for hosting one of the largest known populations of variable stars, particularly RR Lyrae-type pulsators. Like most globulars, M3 is an ancient object, with stars dating back many billions of years to the early history of the Milky Way's halo. For imagers, it is a striking target for resolving a dense, sparkling core of individual stars against a smooth, symmetric glow, and benefits from good seeing and moderate focal length to render the tightly packed core without excessive star bloat.
[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_3]
| Moon Phase | First Quarter | ||||||||||
| Camera | Seestar S30 | ||||||||||
| Optics | 150 mm focal length, f/5, 30 mm aperture (APO triplet) | ||||||||||
| Date | 2026-05-23 | ||||||||||
| PixInsight Processing |
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