- Constellation: Canes Venatici
- Right Ascension: 13h 42m 11.62s
- Declination: +28° 22′ 38.2″
- Distance: 34,000 ly
Messier 3 is a globular cluster located in the constellation of Canes Venatici. It contains an estimated 500,000 stars and is one of the brighter and largest of the 250 or so globular located around our galaxy.
- Details
- Category: Globular Clusters
- Telescope: EDT 80mm Reftactor
- Camera: ZWO A071 Color
- Constellation: Coma Berenices
- Right Ascension: 13h 12m 55.25s
- Declination: +18° 10′ 05.4″
- Distance: 58,000
Messier 53 a globular cluster located in the constellation of Coma Berenices at a distance of 58,000 light years away. A very metal poor cluster indicating that most of the stars are of a first generation as stars that are formed from the deaths of other stars have higher levels of metal in them. The cluster contains more than 500,000 stars and 67+ of the RR Lyrae type of variable stars that are used to estimate the distance much like Cepheid variables are.
- Details
- Category: Globular Clusters
- Telescope: Explore Scientific 127 Refractor
- Camera: ZWO 1600 MM
- Constellation: Lynx
- Right Ascension: 07h 38m 08.51s
- Declination: +38° 52′ 54.9″
- Distance: 300,000 ly
NGC 2419, often called the Intergalactic Wanderer because of the 300,000 light years distance from our galaxy. Originally not thought to be gravitational bound to our galaxy, it now thought to be in orbit around our galaxy and takes about three billion years to complete one orbit. If not for its extreme distance, it would be one of the brightest globular clusters in the night sky, as it is one of the most massive globular clusters that orbit our galaxy.
- Details
- Category: Globular Clusters
- Telescope: Explore Scientific 127 Refractor
- Camera: ZWO 1600 MM
- Constellation: Pegasus
- Right Ascension: 21h 29m 58.33s
- Declination: +12° 10′ 01.2″
- Distance: 33,000 ly
Messier 15, one of the oldest globular clusters around our galaxy, estimated age of 12+ billion years, and a densely compacted core due to core collapse. M15 contains an estimated 100,000 stars. Imaged during first quarter Moon.
- Details
- Category: Globular Clusters
- Telescope: GSO RC10
- Camera: ZWO A071 Color
- Constellation: Hercules
- Right Ascension: 16h 41m 41.24s
- Declination: +36°27’35.5”
- Distance: 22,200 ly
One of the best known northern hemisphere globular clusters containing around 300,000 stars. Globular clusters are are old objects and M13 is estimated to be around 11.5 billion years old based on the amount of heavy metal contents in its stars. Imaged just before a full Moon.
- Details
- Category: Globular Clusters
- Telescope: GSO RC10
- Camera: ZWO A071 Color
- Constellation: Scorpius
- Right Ascension: 16h 23m 35.22s
- Declination: –26° 31′ 32.7″
- Distance: 7,200 ly
Messier 4 is a globular cluster located in the constellation of Scorpius. M4 is one of the nearer globular clusters at a distance of 7,200 light years. It was one of the first globular clusters to be resolved as a collection of stars by Charles Messier who added it to his catalog in 1764. A relative small globular cluster as it only contains 20,000+ plus stars. It may have had more stars in its past, but it's orbit takes it through the Milky Way's disk where it could loose stars due to gravitational interactions.
- Details
- Category: Globular Clusters
- Telescope: Explore Scientific 127 Refractor
- Camera: ZWO 1600 MM