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Sunset: 20:48
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In Evidence

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Detailed information about the discovery of Comet C/2025 J1 (Borisov) and pointers to useful resources to track and observe it. Read more...

Other deep sky objects in Canes Venatici
All Constellations »  Canes Venatici »  Deep Sky Objects » 

Messier 3 - Globular Cluster in Canes Venatici

Above the horizon.  Rise: 14:09 | Tran: 22:56 | Set: 7:46
Alt: 31.83°   Az: 276.58°   Direction: West

Messier 3 is a Globular Cluster in the Canes Venatici constellation. Messier 3 is situated north of the celestial equator and, as such, it is more easily visible from the northern hemisphere. Given its visual magnitude of 6.39, Messier 3 is easily visible with the help of a small binocular.

The image below is a photograph of Messier 3 from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2 - see the credits section) taken in the red channel. The area of sky represented in the image is 0.5400x0.5400 degrees (32.40x32.40 arcmins).

Image of Messier 3 - Globular Cluster in Canes Venatici star
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DSS2 image of Messier 3 in the Red band. The green region on the image is a representation of the major (16.2 arcmin) and minor (16.2 arcmin) axes of the object's apparent size.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

13h 43m 21s
+28° 14’ 53”
04h 53m 26s
18h 36m 47s

J2000

13h 42m 11s
+28° 22’ 31”

Finder Chart

The simplified sky charts below show the position of Messier 3 in the sky. The first chart has a field of view of 60° while the second one has a field of view of 10°.

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Finder chart for Messier 3 - Globular Cluster in Canes Venatici.

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Finder chart for Messier 3 - Globular Cluster in Canes Venatici.

Photometric Information

The following table lists the magnitude of Messier 3 in different bands of the electomagnetic spectrum (when available), from the B band (445nm wavelength, corresponding to the Blue color), to the V band ( 551nm wavelength, corresponding to Green/Yellow color), to the J, H, K bands (corresponding to 1220nm, 1630nm, 2190nm wavelengths respectively, which are colors not visible to the human eye).

6.39

For more information about photometry in astronomy, check the photometric system article on Wikipedia.

Apparent Size

The following table reports Messier 3 apparent angular size. The green area displayed on top of the DSS2 image of Messier 3 is a visual representation of it.
16.2 arcmin
16.2 arcmin

Rise and Set Times

Location: Greenwich, UK
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London

Today's Messier 3 - Globular Cluster in Canes Venatici rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, UK are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 61.8°
Max altitude: 66.8°
Azimuth: 298.2°