Messier 3
M3
📋 A written introduction is coming — for now this page shows official values only.
Object
- Type (NASA)
- Globular Cluster
- Distance from Earth
- 34,000 light-years
- Apparent magnitude
- 6.2 mag
- Apparent size
- 16 ′
- NASA description
- Messier 3 holds more than 500,000 stars.
Source:NASA Hubble (Messier/Caldwell catalogs) · checked 2026-11-02 ↗NASA HEASARC (Goddard Space Flight Center) · checked 2026-11-02 ↗
Related
Constellation
In everyday life
- Light from this object takes about 34,000 years to reach Earth — the light you see tonight left 34,000 years ago (official distance ÷ speed of light).
- At magnitude 6.2 it is fainter than the naked-eye limit (about 6) — you need binoculars or a telescope.
- It spans about 16′ of sky — about half the full Moon's 31′.
Worked out from this object's official values.