M3

Object Type: Globular Cluster
Scope: C-9.25" SCT; Exposure 69 minutes.

Messier 3 (NGC 5272) is one of the largest and brightest globular clusters in the sky, in Canes Venatici, discovered by Charles Messier in 1764 and resolved into stars by William Herschel around 1784. It contains around half a million stars, lies about 33,900 light-years away, and is roughly 8 billion years old. It is exceptionally rich in variable stars, more than 270 are known, more than in any other globular cluster.