How Many Subs

What to image in August with the ZWO Seestar S50 Pro

The summer nebulae at their best in the evening: the North America and Pelican, the Veil, the Crescent and the Eagle. Dark from about 22:00 at British latitudes again. The Perseids give a night to skip imaging and just look up.

Moon in August 2027: new on 2 Aug and 31 Aug, full on 17 Aug. Broadband targets (galaxies, clusters) want the week either side of new; emission nebulae behind a dual-band filter tolerate the rest.

49 targets transit near midnight in August. From a suburban sky the Seestar S50 Pro gets a solid image of 30 of them in under an hour each; 19 need longer, or a darker sky, or several nights. Times below use the recommended filter and 10 s subs.

Solid image with the ZWO Seestar S50 Pro, sorted by the Bortle 6 figure. Each link opens the full Bortle 1 to 9 table with sub-length and filter comparisons.
TargetTypeBortle 4Bortle 6Bortle 8
Wild Duck ClusterScutumOpen cluster5 min30 subs5 min30 subs6 min39 subs
M18SagittariusOpen cluster5 min30 subs5 min30 subs10 min61 subs
M21SagittariusOpen cluster5 min30 subs5 min30 subs7 min42 subs
M25SagittariusOpen cluster5 min30 subs5 min30 subs6 min37 subs
M26ScutumOpen cluster5 min30 subs5 min30 subs6 min37 subs
M39CygnusOpen cluster5 min30 subs5 min30 subs6 min37 subs
M52CassiopeiaOpen cluster5 min30 subs5 min30 subs7 min42 subs
Caroline's RoseCassiopeiaOpen cluster5 min30 subs5 min30 subs6 min37 subs
M29CygnusOpen cluster5 min30 subs6 min37 subs13 min78 subs
NGC 6939CepheusOpen cluster5 min30 subs6 min37 subs13 min78 subs
M28SagittariusGlobular cluster5 min30 subs7 min42 subs16 min95 subs
Ring NebulaLyra, dual-bandPlanetary nebula7 min41 subs8 min46 subs11 min65 subs
Sagittarius Star CloudSagittariusStar cloud6 min34 subs10 min58 subs24 min142 subs
M15PegasusGlobular cluster6 min37 subs11 min64 subs26 min157 subs
M2AquariusGlobular cluster6 min39 subs11 min68 subs28 min169 subs
Blinking PlanetaryCygnus, dual-bandPlanetary nebula10 min59 subs11 min69 subs17 min102 subs
Saturn NebulaAquarius, dual-bandPlanetary nebula10 min59 subs11 min69 subs17 min102 subs
M30CapricornusGlobular cluster7 min45 subs13 min78 subs31 min189 subs
M22SagittariusGlobular cluster8 min46 subs13 min81 subs34 min204 subs
M55SagittariusGlobular cluster8 min51 subs15 min91 subs38 min229 subs
M70SagittariusGlobular cluster10 min63 subs18 min108 subs44 min264 subs
M69SagittariusGlobular cluster10 min63 subs18 min111 subs46 min275 subs
M75SagittariusGlobular cluster12 min73 subs21 min124 subs50 min303 subs
M71SagittaGlobular cluster12 min73 subs21 min125 subs51 min307 subs
Lagoon NebulaSagittarius, dual-bandEmission nebula17 min105 subs22 min132 subs37 min225 subs
Dumbbell NebulaVulpecula, dual-bandPlanetary nebula18 min110 subs22 min134 subs36 min218 subs
Omega NebulaSagittarius, dual-bandEmission nebula20 min123 subs26 min154 subs43 min260 subs
M54SagittariusGlobular cluster17 min100 subs31 min187 subs1 h 22 min490 subs
M56LyraGlobular cluster23 min141 subs44 min267 subs1 h 57 min700 subs
Trifid NebulaSagittarius, dual-bandEmission nebula38 min227 subs49 min294 subs1 h 28 min529 subs
Eagle NebulaSerpens, dual-bandEmission nebula52 min312 subs1 h 08 min410 subs2 h 05 min749 subs
M72AquariusGlobular cluster40 min243 subs1 h 18 min469 subs3 h 28 min1,249 subs
Eastern Veil NebulaCygnus, dual-bandSupernova remnant1 h 06 min398 subs1 h 28 min528 subs2 h 42 min975 subs
North America NebulaCygnus, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 12 min433 subs1 h 36 min574 subs2 h 57 min1,065 subs
Western Veil NebulaCygnus, dual-bandSupernova remnant1 h 18 min470 subs1 h 44 min625 subs3 h 14 min1,163 subs
Iris NebulaCepheusReflection nebula1 h360 subs2 h 04 min745 subs5 h 46 min2,077 subs
Pelican NebulaCygnus, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 40 min603 subs2 h 15 min808 subs4 h 13 min1,517 subs
Helix NebulaAquarius, dual-bandPlanetary nebula1 h 40 min603 subs2 h 15 min808 subs4 h 13 min1,517 subs
NGC 7331PegasusGalaxy1 h 08 min408 subs2 h 19 min833 subs6 h 24 min2,304 subs
Elephant's Trunk NebulaCepheus, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 59 min713 subs2 h 40 min960 subs5 h 02 min1,812 subs
Wizard NebulaCepheus, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 59 min713 subs2 h 40 min960 subs5 h 02 min1,812 subs
Tulip NebulaCygnus, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 59 min713 subs2 h 40 min960 subs5 h 02 min1,812 subs
NGC 6781Aquila, dual-bandPlanetary nebula2 h 17 min825 subs3 h 02 min1,091 subs5 h 35 min2,008 subs
Crescent NebulaCygnus, dual-bandEmission nebula2 h 21 min845 subs3 h 10 min1,141 subs6 h 01 min2,166 subs
Bubble NebulaCassiopeia, dual-bandEmission nebula2 h 21 min845 subs3 h 10 min1,141 subs6 h 01 min2,166 subs
Cocoon NebulaCygnus, dual-bandEmission nebula2 h 29 min892 subs3 h 20 min1,200 subs6 h 17 min2,265 subs
Cave NebulaCepheus, dual-bandEmission nebula3 h 18 min1,190 subs4 h 30 min1,618 subs8 h 36 min3,098 subs
Fireworks GalaxyCygnusGalaxy2 h 42 min973 subs5 h 45 min2,071 subs16 h5,866 subs
NGC 6914CygnusReflection nebula3 h 09 min1,137 subs6 h 38 min2,390 subs19 h6,722 subs

Other telescopes in August: Seestar S50 · Seestar S30 · Seestar S30 Pro · DWARF 3 · DWARF mini · Draco · DWARF II · Vespera II · Vespera Pro · Vespera 3 · Vespera Pro 2 · eQuinox 2 · Odyssey · Origin · Origin Mark II

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