M 3
A large, bright globular cluster in Canes Venatici, home to more variable stars than any other.
Tonight from
Rise, highest point and set are worked out on your device for the place above.
What it is
- Kind of object
- Globular star cluster
- Distance
- 33,900 light years
- Brightness
- Magnitude 6.2, a sight for binoculars
- Size in the sky
- About half the width of the full Moon
- Constellation
- Canes Venatici
- Catalogue
- M 3, NGC 5272
Figures from OpenNGC, CC BY-SA 4.0; the SEDS Messier catalogue, via Wikipedia’s table of Messier objects, CC BY-SA 4.0. All sources
Near it in the sky
- ArcturusAn orange giant in Boötes, about a fist away.
- Black Eye GalaxyA galaxy in Coma Berenices, about a fist away.
- Coma Star ClusterAn open cluster in Coma Berenices, about a hand span away.
- Whirlpool GalaxyA galaxy in Canes Venatici, about a hand span away.
- AlkaidA blue-white main-sequence star in Ursa Major, about a hand span away.