M3

This ball of 500,000 stars is approximately 100 light years across. From a galactic perspective, this cluster is passing over our heads (galactic north) and is one of the first bright clusters to become available before the others closer to the galactic center. Some people believe that this cluster inspired Charles Messier to begin systematically recording the location of deep sky objects that through his telescope appeared as nebulous. Charles Messier was interested in finding comets and considered these non-comet fuzzies to be a bit of a distraction. Even with modest equipment today, the true nature of these objects are easily revealed.

This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.