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Explanation: This huge ball of stars predates our Sun. Long before humankind evolved, before dinosaurs roamed, and even before our Earth existed, ancient globs of stars condensed and orbited a young Milky Way Galaxy. Of the 200 or so globular clusters that survive today, M3 is one of the largest and brightest, easily visible in the Northern hemisphere with binoculars. M3 contains about half a million stars, most of which are old and red. Light takes about 100,000 years to reach us from M3, which spans about 150 light years. The above picture is a composite of blue and red images.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: globular cluster - M 3
Publications with words: globular cluster - M 3
See also:
- APOD: 2025 December 28 Á NGC 1898: Globular Cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud
- APOD: 2025 November 26 Á Globular Cluster M15 Deep Field
- APOD: 2025 September 5 Á 47 Tucanae: Globular Star Cluster
- APOD: 2025 August 14 Á M13: The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules
- APOD: 2025 July 26 Á Globular Cluster Omega Centauri
- NGC6366 vs 47 Ophiuchi
- Messier 2