Astronomy Picture of the Day · September 17, 1999

M3: Half A Million Stars

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for September 17, 1999 is “M3: Half A Million Stars,” an image. It is credited to Credit: Barbara Mochejska (Warsaw University), Andrew Szentgyorgyi (CfA), FLWO. The original explanation runs about 92 words.

From the explanation

“This immense ball of half a million stars older than the sun lies 30,000 light-years above the plane of our Galaxy. Cataloged as M 3 (and NGC 5272), it is one of about 250 globular star clusters which roam our galactic halo .”

— APOD editors, September 17, 1999

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date: September 17, 1999
Type: Image
Credit: Credit: Barbara Mochejska (Warsaw University), Andrew Szentgyorgyi (CfA), FLWO
Copyright: No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length: About 92 words

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Topics in this entry

Galaxies Star clusters

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: September 17 in other years

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Source

Astronomy Picture of the Day, September 17, 1999 — science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-1999-september-17-m3-half-a-million-stars

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.