Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn)  ·  Contains:  M 3  ·  NGC 5272
Messier 3, JetpackJason
Messier 3
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Messier 3

Messier 3, JetpackJason
Messier 3
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Messier 3

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I guess I would say I'm a little partial to this object, since it was discovered on my birthday (albeit long before I was born...)

Messier 3 is globular cluster located in the constellation Canes Venatici, and was the first object in the Messier catalog actually discovered by Charles himself! He discovered it on May 3, 1764; however, it wasn't until some time later when individual stars were resolved, that it was discovered to actually be a globular cluster. M3 sits about 34,000 light years from Earth, and is about 90 light years across.

I enjoyed researching M3 as I was photographing it, and have a newfound appreciation for these mystic objects. I had no idea how many there are in our galaxy alone. I find them fascinating--the number of stars and how densely packed they are, the age of stars, the lack of heavy elements, their location in their galaxies, I could go on... I hope you enjoy this image as much as I enjoyed taking it!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Messier 3, JetpackJason