Messier 3

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Globular cluster
Messier 3
SDSS recording, angle of view 24 '× 24'
SDSS recording, angle of view 24 '× 24'
AladinLite
Constellation Hunting dogs
Position
equinox :  J2000.0 , epoch : J2000.0
Right ascension 13 h 42 m 11.2 s
declination + 28 ° 22 ′ 32 ″
Appearance
Concentration class VI
Brightness  (visual) 6.3 mag
Angular expansion 18.0 '
Physical data
Affiliation Milky Way
distance 33.9  kLj
(10.39  kpc ) 
diameter 223 ly
history
discovery Charles Messier
Discovery date May 3, 1764
Catalog names
 M  3 •  NGC  5272 • C 1339 + 286 •  GCl  25 •

Messier 3 = NGC 5272 is a galactic globular star cluster in the constellation Hounds in the northern sky . It is around 34,000 light years away from the solar system, has a diameter of around 125 light years and is a very large globular cluster with half a million stars. With 212 variable stars (170 of them RR Lyrae stars) the cluster contains the largest number of this star class in our galaxy. A period could be determined from 186 stars .

The object was discovered by Charles Messier on May 3, 1764 and listed by him as the third object in his catalog . In the New General Catalog (NGC) it bears the number 5272.

Messier 3 in the night sky

M 3 is easy to spot in the night sky. It is exactly between Arctur in the constellation Bear Guardian and α ( Cor Caroli ) in the constellation Hunting Dogs . Messier 3 is visible in spring.

  • Messier's position 3

  • Image taken with a 60 cm telescope

  • High resolution image of the center of Messier 3, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope , angle of view 2.8 '× 2.4'

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ NASA / IPAC EXTRAGALACTIC DATABASE
  2. ↑ Harlow Shapley, Helen B. Sawyer: A Classification of Globular Clusters . In: Harvard College Observatory Bulletin . tape 849 , 1927, pp. 11-14 , bibcode : 1927BHarO.849 ... 11S .
  3. ↑ SEDS : NGC 5272
  4. ↑ Messier 3
  5. ↑ Stars and Space April 2013 p. 74ff
  6. ↑ Seligman