M-3 (NGC-5272) is a large, bright globular cluster located in the constellation Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs). It is one of the finest globular clusters in the northern sky. Discovered in 1764 by Charles Messier and added to his catalog as number 3. It lies 35,000 light years from Earth and is 220 light years in diameter. This cluster contains over 500,000 stars and is estimated to be 8 billion years old.
This image, acquired on June 29, 2022, is a sixty minute integration of 1 minute exposures through the Celestron 11 at f/6.3, using the Starizona Reducer/Corrector III and the ZWO ASI 2600MC Pro CMOS camera, operating at -15 degrees below ambient and binned 1 X 1. Guided, captured and combined using Maxim DL5 Pro. Post processed using PhotoShop CS2, Gradient X-Terminator, StarShrink, Carboni's Astro Tools and NoiseWare.