April 28th, 2001 10:00 - 11:00 PM, seeing 5, transparency 4.5, with 30% crescent moon in western sky. North is at the top.

Astro-Physics 7.1" f/9 EDT refractor on homemade Dobsonian-style mount. Magnification 135x to 162x.

M 3 (NGC 5272) is a Globular Cluster located in the constellation of Canes Venatici. Its magnitude is 6.3, diameter of 19', and is approximately 32,000 light years away. It is very bright and extremely large, and brightens suddenly towards the middle. It was discovered by Charles Messier on May 3, 1764. M3, along with M13 and M5, is one of the three brightest clusters in the northern sky, and one of 29 in the Messier catalogue.