Observation by Mark Fairfax: M3 Globular Cluster in Canes Venatici

Uploaded by

Mark Fairfax

Observer

Mark Fairfax

Observed

2022 Apr 07 - 23:28

Uploaded

2022 Apr 08 - 14:51

Objects

M3

Planetarium overlay









Constellation

Canes Venatici

Field centre

RA: 13h42m
Dec: +28°23'
Position angle: -27°24'

Field size

0°25' × 0°19'

Equipment
  • Unistellar eVscope Classic (114mm reflector)
Exposure

20mins

Location

Nottinghamshire UK

Target name

M3 Globular Cluster in Canes Venatici

Title

M3 Globular Cluster in Canes Venatici

About this image

Clear night sky to good to miss despite getting in later from the very interesting talk by Prof. Ian Morison at the Nottingham Astronomical Society. 

My eVscope moved outside & assembled, acclimatised, levelled, autonomous field detection, focussed (with Bahtinov mask) all in half-an-hour and ready to go! 

M3, also NGC 5272, is one of the three brightest (magnitude +6.38) globular clusters in the northern sky and is made up of around 500,000 stars. It is estimated to be 11.4 billion years old and around 33,000 light-years distant.  

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Comments
Grant Privett
Grant Privett, 2022 Apr 09 - 19:00 UTC

Nice image.

I'm curious, having sent some months using a SkyWatcher 114mm reflector and a Lodestar to capture images I was wondering what the selling point was of the eVscope that attracted you? Is it the automated pointing?

Mark Fairfax
Mark Fairfax, 2022 Apr 10 - 12:57 UTC

Thanks Grant,

quite a few things went into my choice of the Unistellar eVscope: 

Ease of use & convenience with it being a telescope, camera & computer all rolled into one. Quick set-up which helps immensely with the UK weather and deals well with light pollution. Portability with the back pack. 
Results from the eVscope & what it can achieve are astounding.
Citizen Science aspect. 
I did a lot of research as it is expensive & new technology - reviews by a colleague in the Nottingham Astronomical Society and Prof. Michael Merrifield helped too. 

And it really is true that the best telescope is the one you use the most often!

 

Grant Privett
Grant Privett, 2022 Apr 11 - 17:09 UTC

Thanks for replying.  Okay, so its the integrated portable system system thing then? Had wondered. I quite enjoyed my time with a 114mm (though the optics were not as good as on yours). Hopefully the price will drop in time. Kind of surprised Meade don't sell an integrated system based on the LS6 and a DSI-III - though life gets harder for the software as the focal length gets longer.

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