M3 - Globular Cluster in Canes Venatici

One of my favorite globular clusters in the sky!  The very colorful M3 is one of the larger globulars, very near the same angular size at M13.  However, it seems to look a bit smaller through telescopes because its core is much more compact.  It contains perhaps a half-million stars at a distance of approximately 33,900 light years away.    When observing this object, it helps to have larger aperture, dark skies, and moderate to high magnifications.  This way, you can resolve the individual stars near the core.  Truly a great object to behold!

Location: The Ballauer Observatory near Azle, Texas
Date: March 18 & 30, 2004
Transparency: 3/10 (amid skyglow) red and blue; 5/10 blue
Seeing: 5/10
Scope/Mount: Tak FSQ-106 @ f/8 (with Extender-Q) on Tak NJP mount
Camera: SBIG ST-10xme with CFW8a filter wheel
Exposure info: RGB image (10:10:10 minutes)
Processing info: Dark and flat calibration, registration, gradient removal, and average combine in MaxIm.  Curves, deblooming, color balance, saturation, sharpening, and cropping in Photoshop CS.
 

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