- M 3 (NGC 5272)
M 3 is a large, bright globular cluster located in the Spring constellation Canes Venatici. With a visual magnitude of 5.9, it can be seen with the unaided eye under dark sky conditions. M 3 is located around 34,000 LY away and is huge— it has a diameter of 190 LY and contains over half a million stars. It is easily observed with binoculars as a glowing ball of light, and in larger telescopes its center blazes with the combined light of enumerable suns. While globular clusters are generally quite old, M 3 contains a number of young blue stars the ages of which are much less than that of the overall cluster. These young stars (called "blue stragglers") are thought to have been formed by the merger of older, more mature stars.
M 3 was discovered by Charles Messier in May of 1764. This was Messier's first true discovery of a deep-sky object and is thought to have motivated him to create his list of "nebulous objects".
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