18.4.17

globular

Discovered by Charles Messier on 3rd. May 1764 as an object which could be mistaken for a comet, it took another 20 years before William Herschel hoisted his telescope toward it. The 1.2m reflector at Observatory House, Slough was then the largest telescope in the world. He announced that it consisted of stars.

90 light years in diameter and 34000 light years away, I wonder what Herschel and his mates thought when they first saw it. If anything like me, amazement. It hasn't changed since the 18th. century, so they would have seen something very similar to this...

globular cluster m3 in canes venatici
700d + pn208   24 x 90s @ ISO800
...and with DSS' drizzle...