From the National Optical Astronomical Observatories
M3, NGC5272, is a sixth magnitude globular cluster in the constellation Canes Venatici. A fairly striking globular of about half a million stars, M3 was Messier's first previously uncatalogued object, and probably the impetus for his systematic search leading to the Messier Catalog. This picture was made from CCD images taken at the Burrell Schmidt telescope of the Warner and Swasey Observatory of the Case Western Reserve University, located on Kitt Peak in southwestern Arizona.
Image Title: The Globular Cluster M3
Credit: N.A.Sharp, Vanessa Harvey/REU program/AURA/NOAO/NSF
Text based on accompanying on-line materials.
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Last Modified On: Monday, March 23, 2001