Messier 3
From Wikipedia:
Messier 3 (M3; also NGC 5272) is a globular cluster of stars in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici.
It was discovered on May 3, 1764, and was the first Messier object to be discovered by Charles Messier himself. Messier originally mistook the object for a nebula without stars. This mistake was corrected after the stars were resolved by William Herschel around 1784. Since then, it has become one of the best-studied globular clusters.
This cluster is one of the largest and brightest, and is made up of around 500,000 stars. It is estimated to be 11.4 billion years old. It is centered at 32,600 light-years (10.0 kpc) away from Earth.
M3 contains 274 known variable stars, by far the most found in any globular cluster.I usually don’t image with a nearly full moon (97%) and especially a close target at 36 degrees from the moon, but I desperately wanted to get out.
When I ran WBPP and created the integrated image, I was not surprised to see the horrible gradient.
Anyway, it processed out pretty well. Actually, a very easy process using just saturation for enhancing coloration.
Overall, not a perfect image, but considering the conditions, I feel like it is a nice result.
Thanks for looking and comments welcome!
Jim
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