Globular Cluster M3

NOTES
DATE:
Sunday, May 4, 2008
TIME:
11:00 pm EDT
CAMERA:
Canon EOS 300D Digital Rebel
EXPOSURE:
6 minutes @ ISO 800
LOCATION: Owl Observatory - Kalamazoo Nature Center
INSTRUMENT:
Meade 12" f/10 LX200 SCT
PROCESSING:
Images obtained with DSLRFocus 3.  Dark frame subtracted, aligned, stacked with DeepSkyStacker.  Further enhancements with Adobe Photoshop 7.0
COMMENTS:
Globular Cluster M3 (NGC 5272) is technically located in the star-poor, but deep sky-rich constellation Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs.  Many assume this massive collection of approximately 45,000 stars is located in Bootes, but it's actually closer to the boarder of Coma Berenices.  M3 is one of the three brightest globular clusters in the northern hemisphere.  Its visual appearance is perhaps second only to M13 in Hercules.  This colossal collection of stars is about 130 light-years in diameter and 27,000 light-years away.