M3 Star Cluster in Canes Venatici

M3 is a magnitude 6.4 globular star cluster located about 35,000 to 40,000 light years from Earth. It is one of the three brightest globular clusters in the northern sky. It looks like a hazy "star" in binoculars. The cluster is a beautiful sight even in small telescopes, as demonstrated by this image which was taken with a small 3-inch refractor. The cluster contains thousands of stars, ranging from magnitude 11 down to the limits of visibility. Some estimates place the number of stars in the cluster at half a million stars. These stars occupy a spherical volume in space of about 220 light-years in diameter. This globular cluster is an ancient star group that formed about 10 billion years ago. The cluster orbits the Milky Way Galaxy, and is currently approaching us with a radial velocity of about 90 miles a second.

This image was taken on the 7th March 2010 with the Canon 40D and 102ED Refractor at F/5.6....10 seperate images of 60 seconds@ ISO 400 were captured in Nebulosity, they were aligned and stacked. Some Digital Development was done in Images Plus and Levels and Curves applied in Photoshop. copyright.. K.Grice 2010