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grobi @[email protected] · 2026-08-10 · 14:52 UTC

Messier 3
* Contributors to Wikimedia projects

Globular cluster Messier 3 imaged by Hubble Space Telescope

This image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows Messier 3, a densely packed cluster of stars whose origins may be a merger between globular clusters in the early universe.

Messier 3 (M3; also NGC 5272) is a globular cluster located 33.9 thousand light years from Earth in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici. It is one of the largest and brightest globular clusters discovered with around 500,000 stars.

It was discovered on May 3, 1764,
and was the first Messier object to be discovered by Charles Messier himself. Messier originally mistook the object for a nebula without stars. This mistake was corrected after the stars were resolved by William Herschel around 1784. Since then, it has become one of the best-studied globular clusters. Identification of the cluster's unusually large variable star population was begun in 1913 by American astronomer Solon Irving Bailey and new variable members continue to be identified up through 2025.

Many amateur astronomers consider it one of the finest northern globular clusters, following only Messier 13.
M3 has an apparent magnitude of 6.2, making it a difficult naked eye target even with dark conditions with averted vision. However, with a moderate-sized telescope, the cluster can be seen as a cloudy smudge even in severely light-polluted skies, and can be further defined in darker conditions. It can be found by looking almost exactly halfway along the north-west line that would join Arcturus (α Boötis) to Cor Caroli (α Canum Venaticorum).
Using a telescope with a 25 cm (9.8 in) aperture, the cluster has a bright core with a diameter of about 6 arcminutes and spans a total of double that.

This cluster is one of the largest and brightest, and is made up of around 500,000 stars.
It is estimated to be 11.4 billion years old It is centered at 32,600 light-years (10.0 kpc) away from Earth.

Messier 3 is quite isolated as it is 31.6 kly (9.7 kpc) above the Galactic plane and roughly 38.8 kly (11.9 kpc) from the center of the Milky Way. It contains 274 known variable stars, by far the most found in any globular cluster. These include 133 RR Lyrae variables, of which about a third display the Blazhko effect of long-period modulation. The overall abundance of elements other than hydrogen and helium, what astronomers term the metallicity, is in the range of −1.34 to −1.50 dex. This value gives the logarithm of the abundance relative to the Sun; the actual proportion is 3.2–4.6% of the solar abundance.
Messier 3 is the prototype for the Oosterhoff type I cluster, which is considered "metal-rich". That is, for a globular cluster, Messier 3 has a relatively high abundance of heavier elements.

CREDIT:
NASA, ESA, and A. Sarajedini (Florida Atlantic University)
* Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

Text:
Contributors to Wikimedia projects

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap990917.html
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070609.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Messier
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Herschel

#space #messier #astrophotography #photography #science #nature #physics #NASA #ESA #hubble

#space #messier #astrophotography #photography #science #nature

Khurram Wadee ✅ @[email protected] · 2026-08-08 · 12:14 UTC

A #Messier Moment for #Tempel2
#Astronomy #Picture of the Day

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260808.html

#APOD #M30

#messier #tempel2 #astronomy #picture #apod #m30

3i/Atlas @[email protected] · 2026-08-08 · 06:00 UTC

APOD: 2026 August 8 – A Messier Moment for Tempel 2
https://atlas.whatip.xyz/post.php?slug=apod-2026-august-8-a-messier-moment-for-tempel-2
Latest: <p>APOD Science APOD APOD
#messier #science #august #moment

#messier #science #august #moment

1ban.news @[email protected] · 2026-07-04 · 18:16 UTC

NASA's Hubble Spots a Star-Spangled Cosmic Scene for July 4

https://1ban.news/hubble-messier-3-globular-cluster-fireworks/
#1ban #hubble #messier #globular #cluster #space

#globular #cluster #space #1ban #hubble #messier

Knowledge Zone @[email protected] · 2026-06-26 · 12:53 UTC

#TopicOfTheDay: The #Messier #Catalogue is a list of 110 astronomical objects compiled by French astronomer Charles Messier in the 18th century.

The catalogue consists of a diverse range of astronomical objects, from star clusters and nebulae to galaxies. For example, Messier 1 is a supernova remnant, known as the Crab Nebula, and the great spiral Andromeda Galaxy is M31.

https://knowledgezone.co.in/kbits/667ae320d3fc861cdd780a31

#topicoftheday #messier #catalogue

grobi @[email protected] · 2026-05-22 · 21:13 UTC

2026 May 23

Messier 2
* Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, G. Piotto et al.
https://spacetelescope.org/
https://www.nasa.gov/
https://arxiv.org/abs/1410.4564

Explanation:
After the Crab Nebula, this giant star cluster is the second entry in 18th century astronomer Charles Messier's famous list of things that are not comets. M2 is one of the largest globular star clusters now known to roam the halo of our Milky Way galaxy. Though Messier originally described it as a nebula without stars, this stunning Hubble image resolves stars across the cluster's central 40 light-years. Its population of stars numbers close to 150,000, concentrated within a total diameter of around 175 light-years. About 55,000 light-years distant toward the constellation Aquarius, this ancient denizen of the Milky Way, also known as NGC 7089, is 13 billion years old. An extended stellar debris stream, a signature of past gravitational tidal disruption, was recently found to be associated with Messier 2.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180104.html
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/explore-the-night-sky/hubble-messier-catalog/messier-2/
http://www.messier.seds.org/m/m002.html
https://arxiv.org/abs/1606.05949
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240927.html

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260523.html

#space #messier #astrophotography #photography #science #nature #physics #NASA #ESA #apod

#space #messier #astrophotography #photography #science #nature

grobi @[email protected] · 2026-05-22 · 21:02 UTC

Messier 1

by Andrea Gianopoulos

Better known as the Crab Nebula, Charles Messier originally mistook Messier 1 for Halley’s Comet, which inspired him to create his famous catalog of objects.

In 1054, Chinese astronomers took notice of a “guest star” that was, for nearly a month, visible in the daytime sky. The “guest star” they observed was actually a supernova explosion, which gave rise to the Crab Nebula, a six-light-year-wide remnant of the violent event.

With an apparent magnitude of 8.4 and located 6,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Taurus, the Crab Nebula can be spotted with a small telescope and is best observed in January. The nebula was discovered by English astronomer John Bevis in 1731, and later observed by Charles Messier who mistook it for Halley’s Comet. Messier’s observation of the nebula inspired him to create a catalog of celestial objects that might be mistaken for comets.

This large mosaic of the Crab Nebula was assembled from 24 individual exposures captured by Hubble over three months. The colors in this image do not match exactly what we would see with our eyes but yield insight into the composition of this spectacular stellar corpse. The orange filaments are the tattered remains of the star and consist mostly of hydrogen. The blue in the filaments in the outer part of the nebula represents neutral oxygen. Green is singly ionized sulfur, and red indicates doubly ionized oxygen. These elements were expelled during the supernova explosion.

A rapidly spinning neutron star (the ultra-dense core of the exploded star) is embedded in the center of the Crab Nebula. Electrons whirling at nearly the speed of light around the star’s magnetic field lines produce the eerie blue light in the interior of the nebula. The neutron star, like a lighthouse, ejects twin beams of radiation that make it appear to pulse 30 times per second as it rotates.

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/explore-the-night-sky/hubble-messier-catalog/messier-1/

#space #messier #astrophotography #photography #science #nature #physics #NASA #ESA #apod