A Brief Imaging Session with Messier 3

M3 globular cluster

I had a long, eventful night at the CCCA Observatory this past Saturday. This is a private observatory owned by my local astronomy club here in Niagara, Ontario (RASC Niagara Centre).

I started packing up my astro-gear at 7:45 p.m. With the sun setting at 8:05 pm, and a 45-minute drive ahead of me, I knew I would be breaking one of my own astronomy rules: Setting up in the dark.

Setting up my astrophotography gear at the CCCA Observatory using only red lights to preserve my night vision.

By the time I arrived, it was pitch black, with only the stars and my red headlamp to light my way. I witnessed some amazing views of Mars and Saturn through my Explore Scientific ED80 before setting my DSLR up for a night of astrophotography. 

I forgot a key element of any astrophotography imaging session, my guide scope. Forgetting something at home that is essential for imaging is always a frustrating experience. I knew my plans of taking 5-minute exposures of the Seagull Nebula were ruined.

Instead, I focused on capturing a deep-sky object that did not require long exposures with autoguiding, the M3 Globular Cluster.  

Photographing the M3 and M64

I decided to take some 30-second unguided exposures of the globular star cluster known as Messier 3. I have seen this cluster through a 20″ Dobsonian telescope, and to this day, it is still my favorite sight through a large telescope.

Messier 3 is a collection of hundreds of thousands of stars in the constellation Canes Venatici. It lies a whopping 34, 000 light-years away from Earth. 

The Messier 3 Globular Cluster in Canes Venatici. 

Next, I chose to image a nearby galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici known as M63, or, the Sunflower Galaxy. In hindsight, it was not such a great choice, considering its size and my limited exposure time. 

The good news is that this was really a “bonus night” anyway, as the moon rose early at about 1:00 a.m. By then, some friends had come to join me and were dazzled by views of Saturn. The next 2 weekends are when I really plan to get some good imaging done, in the heart of Galaxy Season

The Sunflower Galaxy in Canes Venatici. Explore Scientific ED80 and a Canon Rebel DSLR.

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