A swarm of half-a-million stars

Last night in the skies above Europe, Comet LINEAR VZ13 glided by globular star cluster M3. Italian astronomer Giampaolo Salvato snapped this picture through his 8-inch telescope. Interestingly, M3 was once regarded as a nuisance to astronomers. Charles Messier first laid eyes on the star cluster in 1764. Through his primitive telescope, it seemed fuzzy and gaseous like a comet, except it was not a comet (it didn't move like one), so he added M3 to his catalogue of dopplegangers that comet hunters should avoid. 200+ years later, ordinary backyard telescopes reveal M3 as a swarm of half-a-million stars. It looks nothing like a comet--but it makes a nice comet side-kick. More images: from Gábor Szendrői of Gencsapáti, Hungary; from Pavol Rapavy of Rimavska Sobota, Slovakia.