M3: a magnificent globular
cluster
This is one of the brightest globular
clusters in the sky, barely visible even to the naked eye. From
32,000 light years its half a million stars appear as a faint
glow in visual observation. The bright resolved stars are all
giants; main sequence stars are all too faint to show up.
New:
Images taken: May 1, 2006, by Ruth Mauldin
and Jenzy Wunder.
Telescope: Meade 12 in with f/5.6 focal
reducer (f=67in), guided on a 8.4 mg star.
Camera: SBIG ST-7 CCD
The arrows indicate RR Lyrae variables
identified inside the cluster.
Seeing: 2.5
as.
Exposures: 20
min red, 20 min green, 2x20 min blue (1h20m total).
Image processing: CCDoops
+ CCDSoft + CCDsharp + Photoshop CS.