M3 is a beautiful globular discovered by Charles Messier in 1764. He thought it was a nebula. That it is a globular cluster was discovered by William Herschel about 1784 with a much larger telescope. M3 is one of several stunning globular clusters visible in spring in northern latitudes. Most interesting to me is their size (about 500,000 stars appearing about 18 arcminutes across) and age (which is estimated to be between 8 and 11 billion years old) and to sit above the plane of the Milky Way.
When I try to comprehend M3, it seems to be remarkable that so many stars are so stable for so long. Trying to understand a bit more deeply simply gives a deeper sense of wonder (see for example
https://www.space.com/29717-globular-clusters.html).
I need more time to image M3, so think of this image as work in progress. Also, in retrospect I think 60s subs were a bit too long. The QHY168c gain was 4 and offset 50. Maybe a shorter exposure and lower gain would help preserve star colors better.
Thank you for looking!
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