Messier 3 - NGC 5272

No dss image available for Messier 3
 
Aladin viewer for the region around Messier 3
h 1663, GC 3636, Melotte 3, C 1339+286, GCl 25

Type  Globular Cluster
Magnitude  6.39
Size  16.2'
Right Ascension  13h 42' 11.5"  (2000)
Declination  28° 22' 38" N
Constellation  Canes Venatici
Description  !!, eB, vL, vsmbM, st 11..
Classification  VI
Observing Notes

Andrew Cooper
Jul 19, 2022    Waikoloa, HI (map)
20cm f/6 Newtonian, Cave Astrola @ 136x
Seeing: 6 Transparency: 6 Moon: 0%

Big, bright and obvious, visible in the 40mm finder, a dense ball of stars 10' in diameter, resolved, very dense core, a 6th magnitude star HR 5145 is 28' southwest

Andrew Cooper
Jun 17, 2020    Waikoloa, HI (map)
28cm f/10 SCT, NexStar 11" GyPSy @ 127x
Seeing: 5 Transparency: 6 Moon: 0%

Big, bright, fully resolved, very dense core, one of the best globular clusters in the sky

Andrew Cooper
Mar 2, 2011    Hale Pohaku, HI (map)
46cm f/4.5 Newtonian, Deep Violet @ 175x
Seeing: 6 Transparency: 6 Moon: 0%

One of the sky's best globulars, large! about 12' across, bright, fully resolved, a spectacular blaze of stars in the 18"

Andrew Cooper
Jun 5, 1998    TIMPA, Avra Valley, AZ (map)
20cm f/10 SCT

A little smaller than M5, but otherwise just as nice, well resolved, rich, compact

Andrew Cooper
Feb 14, 1985    University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona (map)
Steward Observatory 21"

A 6th magnitude globular in Canes Venatici, individual stars easily resolvable, about 10' in diameter, very symmetrical

Rev. T.W. Webb
May 19, 1885    Hardwick, Herefordshire, England (map)
94mm f/18 Tully Achromat

'A brilliant and beautiful globular congregation on not less than 1000 small stars,' Sm., blazing splendid, that is, running up into a confused brilliancy towards the centre, with many outliers. h., 11-15 mg. making lines and irregular rays. 3-7/10 in. hardly resolved it.
― Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes, T. W. Webb, 1917

John Herschel
Mar 30, 1827    

Very beautiful; stars 11 .... 15m; fills field, making lines and irregular rays of stars, and coming up to a blaze in the middle.

William Herschel
Sep 24, 1810    Waikoloa, HI
10' Newtonian @ 171x

The 3rd of the Connoiss. is one of the globular clusters; very brilliant and beautiful. The compression of the stars begins to increase pretty suddenly from the outside at 3/4 of the radius, and continues gradually up to its centre, its diameter taking in the outside is full half of the field of the glass magnifying 171 times, giving 4'30"

Charles Messier
May 3, 1764    30" FL Gregorian @ 104x

On May 3, 1764, when working on a catalog of the nebulae, I have discovered one between Bootes & one of the Hunting Dogs of Hevelius, the southernmore of the two, exactly between the tail & the paws of this Dog, according to the charts of Flamsteed. I have observed that nebula on the meridian, & I compared with Mu Bootis; its right ascension has been found as 202d 51' 19", & its declination as 29d 32' 57" north. That nebula which I have examined with a Gregorian telescope of 30 pouces focal length, which magnifies 104 times, doesn't contain any star; the center is brilliant, & the light gets lost fading; it is round, & could have 3 minutes of arc in diameter. One can see it in a good sky with an ordinary refractor of one foot.
― Connaissance des Temps, 1781
Other Data Sources for Messier 3
Nearby objects for Messier 3
Credits...

Drawings, descriptions, and CCD photos are copyright Andrew Cooper unless otherwise noted, no usage without permission.

A complete list of credits and sources can be found on the about page

Messier 3