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M3
Messier 3
Globular Star Cluster
| Right Ascension | 13h 42m 11s | Best Seen | 4/1-9/15 |
| Declination | 28° 22' 23" | Magnitude | 6.2 |
| Constellation | Canes Venatici | ||
Actual |
Compared to Sun |
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| Distance | ~33,900 ly | -- |
| Diameter | ~160 ly | -- |
| Number of Stars | ~500,000 | -- |
| Actual Brightness | -- | 300,000 |
| Age | greater than 12 billion years | ~2.5 |
| Integrated Spectral Type | F7 | G2 V |
What To Look For Through The Telescope
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Recommended eyepiece: 40mm or 80 mm.
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When people look through the telescope the cluster will appear similar to a pile of sugar or salt on a table.
M3 Information
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This is one of the three brightest globular clusters in the northern sky. M13 and M5 are the other two.
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This cluster is approaching us at a velocity of 148.5 kilometers per second (92 miles per second).
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M3 contains a relatively large number of “blue stragglers,” blue stars which are too young to have formed when the original cluster formed, and are instead thought to be the result of interactions between existing stars in the cluster.
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References
| Item | Updated | Notes |
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