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Messier 3
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== Characteristics == This cluster is one of the largest and brightest, and is made up of around 500,000 stars.<ref name=":0" /> It is estimated to be 11.4 billion years old.<ref name=mnras404_3_1203/> It is centered at 32,600 [[light-year]]s (10.0 [[Parsec|kpc]]) away from [[Earth]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Cacciari|first1=C.|last2=Corwin|first2=T. M.|last3=Carney|first3=B. W.|date=January 2005|title=A Multicolor and Fourier Study of RR Lyrae Variables in the Globular Cluster NGC 5272 (M3)|url=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/426325|journal=The Astronomical Journal|language=en|volume=129|issue=1|pages=267β302|doi=10.1086/426325|s2cid=8875833 |issn=0004-6256|arxiv=astro-ph/0409567}}</ref> Messier 3 is quite isolated as it is {{Convert|31.6|kly|kpc|abbr=on|lk=on}} above the [[Galactic plane]] and roughly {{Convert|38.8|kly|kpc|abbr=on|lk=off}} from the center of the [[Milky Way]]. It contains 274 known [[variable star]]s, by far the most found in any globular cluster. These include 133 [[RR Lyrae variables]], of which about a third display the [[Blazhko effect]] of long-period modulation. The overall abundance of elements other than hydrogen and helium, what astronomers term the [[metallicity]], is in the range of −1.34 to −1.50 [[Decimal exponent|dex]]. This value gives the [[logarithm]] of the abundance relative to the [[Sun]]; the actual proportion is 3.2–4.6% of the solar abundance. Messier 3 is the prototype for the [[Oosterhoff type I]] cluster, which is considered "metal-rich". That is, for a globular cluster, Messier 3 has a relatively high abundance of heavier elements.<ref name=aj129_1_267/> [[File:M3map.png|thumb|[[Arcturus]] and [[Cor Caroli]] can be used to help locate M3]]
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