Globular Cluster M3

This huge ball of stars predates our Sun. Long before mankind evolved, before dinosaurs roamed , and even before our Earth existed, ancient globs of stars condensed and orbited a young Milky Way Galaxy . Of the 250 or so globular clusters that survive today, M3 is one of the largest and brightest, easily visible in the Northern hemisphere with binoculars. M3 contains about half a million stars, most of which are old and red. The existence of young blue stars in M3 once posed a mystery, but these blue stragglers are now thought to form via stellar interactions .