Very sharp, with stars resolved right across the cluster core, Martin Bernier’s image of Messier 3 won the Photo of the Week for March 20, 2020.

One of the judges said the image had “good star colours, with fine distinction between the golds and blues.”

Bernier wrote in an email that QSI 683wsg with a CT16 Newton telescope and a focal ratio of f/4. Taken on February 20 in Saint-Liboire, Quebec, he wrote the image was taken from his home under exceptional visibility.

“Which allowed me excellent resolution,” he wrote.

M3 is a globular cluster in the constellation of Canes Venatici. In the March-April edition of SkyNews, Nicole Mortillaro writes that the cluster contains 500,000 stars and is a sight to behold.

“Though 34,000 light-years away, it is quite visible in dark-sky locations using binoculars or a modest telescope,” she writes.

The honourable mention this week goes to Donald Johnson for his image of IC405.

Judges noted that IC405 is “a bit tricky to do,” and appreciated the skill required to get the image.

Johnson wrote this image was captured at the RASC Calgary Wilson Coulee observatory on February 19, shortly after the New Moon.

“Luckily, [I] had the next couple of days off and had clear skies, which hasn’t happened to much for me this year,” he wrote.

He said the set up was a Stellarvue SVQ 86mm Quad Astrograph refractor, Celestron Advanced VX mount and a ZWO ASI1600MM Pro camera.

“I took 38 Ha, 10 Oiii and 14 Sii subs of 300 seconds each,” he wrote. “The images were stacked and processed using PixInsight with bias and dark files, no flats.”