I thought I was shooting M64 the Black-eye Galaxy in more detail after spotting it in a wider shot the night before (see previous post). I focused my 300mm lens on the moon, and then just started scanning the sky at ISO 1600 for 8 sec looking for a fuzzy blob. When I found one in the general area I was looking for, I figured it must be M64 - but I was wrong. I was actually about 15 degrees above M64 looking at M3 a globular cluster.
I mean, hey I'll take it! This explains why my "galaxy" wasn't processing well in Deep Sky Stacker - it just looked like a little ball. No wonder, it is a cluster not a galaxy! I didn't figure it out until I had Astrometry.net label my image. Now I have to wait for another clear night to try for M64 again.
![m3 globular cluster m3 globular cluster](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhJZrVtUs7Dh3W93oSX_y6Gik-HXXkkxkPP1c9VjxUB05Bgc6xIdHCtGVdrEQa-OtUv3ZmXS-nIdHzoypqHiYlXTf1wlU8Nobfj_wm-JiANXT8psXtK04NFxDaS3s0KjZMz-4NjIinRdoi/s400/m3globularcluster_crop.png) |
95 subs, 30 darks, each at ISO 1600, 1.3 sec, f/5.6, 300mm |
![m3 globular cluster m3 globular cluster](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivqTx2Zs2phKwB5yICAnruf5pBdJBwRdxf3odDCbXo6n3QQ3y5PT8Xqr9GzPHyGFvKhGLh7LCHqZswC7qw_SzadM0DU02so0VqBS0yqOw1icBvQqHV9iIWffAQqmlCDZaZxzLt2J8LRXXV/s400/fuzzym3_crop.png) |
Single exposure at ISO 1600 for 8 sec to help me locate the fuzzy glob |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimlugu4xHzqHlBvR_bhvcdmDr-i_4pPVSyE0Qowry27m1V__xxEHNpbvYWCKapnn0gM3MZNggtj9SX016O8IVcNfCjnevOxpnCUtM_NhDBRx-VrO21kVr4_2Lqlr0NTJXxNCFtbPkCP8cr/s1600/m3+location.png) |
Wouldn't have known it was M3 without Astrometry.net labeling my photo for me |
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