Observation by Mazin Younis: Revisiting M3

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Mazin Younis

Observer

Mazin Younis

Observed

2026 Mar 10 - 23:06

Uploaded

2026 Mar 11 - 23:08

Objects

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Constellation

Canes Venatici

Field centre

RA: 13^h42^m
Dec: +28°21'
Position angle: -82°35'

Field size

1°20' × 0°39'

Equipment

Sky-watcher Quattro 8 f/4
ASI 2600MC Duo

Exposure

7 x 500s

Location

Southern Morocco - Bortle 4

Title

Revisiting M3

About this image

I thought if M3 is made mostly of very old stars - like all globular clusters (typically about 11–12 billion years old), shouldn't they be all red giants?

However, you can see many bright blue stars, obviously giving the impression that the cluster contains young hot stars. Apparently, they are called Blue Stragglers! stars that appear younger and hotter because they formed through stellar collisions or mass transfer in binary systems, not because they were recently born

M3 is also famous for containing a large number of RR Lyrae variables, pulsating stars that are useful for measuring distances in astronomy.

Enjoy Hi-Res HERE

Files associated with this observation

M3_1Hr.jpg (2.5 MB)

Like this image

Simon Paul Davis, Callum Potter, Dominic Ford

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