How Many Subs

What to image in August with the ZWO Seestar S50

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 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, 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 min36 subs
M18SagittariusOpen cluster5 min30 subs5 min30 subs9 min56 subs
M21SagittariusOpen cluster5 min30 subs5 min30 subs6 min39 subs
M25SagittariusOpen cluster5 min30 subs5 min30 subs6 min34 subs
M26ScutumOpen cluster5 min30 subs5 min30 subs6 min34 subs
M39CygnusOpen cluster5 min30 subs5 min30 subs6 min34 subs
M52CassiopeiaOpen cluster5 min30 subs5 min30 subs6 min39 subs
Caroline's RoseCassiopeiaOpen cluster5 min30 subs5 min30 subs6 min34 subs
M29CygnusOpen cluster5 min30 subs6 min34 subs12 min72 subs
NGC 6939CepheusOpen cluster5 min30 subs6 min34 subs12 min72 subs
M28SagittariusGlobular cluster5 min30 subs6 min38 subs14 min87 subs
Ring NebulaLyra, dual-bandPlanetary nebula6 min37 subs7 min42 subs10 min60 subs
Sagittarius Star CloudSagittariusStar cloud5 min31 subs9 min53 subs22 min131 subs
M15PegasusGlobular cluster5 min33 subs10 min58 subs24 min144 subs
Blinking PlanetaryCygnus, dual-bandPlanetary nebula9 min53 subs10 min62 subs15 min93 subs
Saturn NebulaAquarius, dual-bandPlanetary nebula9 min53 subs10 min62 subs15 min93 subs
M2AquariusGlobular cluster6 min36 subs10 min63 subs26 min156 subs
M30CapricornusGlobular cluster7 min41 subs12 min71 subs29 min174 subs
M22SagittariusGlobular cluster7 min42 subs12 min74 subs31 min187 subs
M55SagittariusGlobular cluster8 min46 subs14 min83 subs35 min211 subs
M70SagittariusGlobular cluster9 min57 subs16 min99 subs40 min243 subs
M69SagittariusGlobular cluster9 min57 subs17 min101 subs42 min254 subs
M75SagittariusGlobular cluster11 min66 subs19 min114 subs46 min279 subs
M71SagittaGlobular cluster11 min66 subs19 min115 subs47 min282 subs
Lagoon NebulaSagittarius, dual-bandEmission nebula16 min94 subs20 min119 subs34 min205 subs
Dumbbell NebulaVulpecula, dual-bandPlanetary nebula16 min99 subs20 min121 subs33 min198 subs
Omega NebulaSagittarius, dual-bandEmission nebula18 min110 subs23 min138 subs39 min236 subs
M54SagittariusGlobular cluster15 min90 subs28 min171 subs1 h 15 min451 subs
M56LyraGlobular cluster21 min128 subs41 min244 subs1 h 47 min645 subs
Trifid NebulaSagittarius, dual-bandEmission nebula33 min200 subs44 min263 subs1 h 20 min480 subs
Eagle NebulaSerpens, dual-bandEmission nebula46 min275 subs1 h 01 min366 subs1 h 53 min680 subs
M72AquariusGlobular cluster37 min220 subs1 h 11 min429 subs3 h 12 min1,150 subs
Eastern Veil NebulaCygnus, dual-bandSupernova remnant58 min351 subs1 h 18 min471 subs2 h 27 min884 subs
North America NebulaCygnus, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 03 min381 subs1 h 25 min512 subs2 h 41 min965 subs
Western Veil NebulaCygnus, dual-bandSupernova remnant1 h 09 min414 subs1 h 33 min557 subs2 h 56 min1,054 subs
Iris NebulaCepheusReflection nebula54 min325 subs1 h 53 min681 subs5 h 19 min1,913 subs
Pelican NebulaCygnus, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 28 min530 subs2 h720 subs3 h 49 min1,375 subs
Helix NebulaAquarius, dual-bandPlanetary nebula1 h 28 min530 subs2 h720 subs3 h 49 min1,375 subs
NGC 7331PegasusGalaxy1 h 01 min368 subs2 h 07 min762 subs5 h 53 min2,121 subs
Elephant's Trunk NebulaCepheus, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 44 min627 subs2 h 22 min855 subs4 h 34 min1,642 subs
Wizard NebulaCepheus, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 44 min627 subs2 h 22 min855 subs4 h 34 min1,642 subs
Tulip NebulaCygnus, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 44 min627 subs2 h 22 min855 subs4 h 34 min1,642 subs
NGC 6781Aquila, dual-bandPlanetary nebula2 h 01 min728 subs2 h 42 min973 subs5 h 03 min1,821 subs
Crescent NebulaCygnus, dual-bandEmission nebula2 h 04 min742 subs2 h 49 min1,016 subs5 h 27 min1,963 subs
Bubble NebulaCassiopeia, dual-bandEmission nebula2 h 04 min742 subs2 h 49 min1,016 subs5 h 27 min1,963 subs
Cocoon NebulaCygnus, dual-bandEmission nebula2 h 10 min783 subs2 h 58 min1,068 subs5 h 42 min2,053 subs
Cave NebulaCepheus, dual-bandEmission nebula2 h 54 min1,043 subs4 h1,439 subs7 h 48 min2,807 subs
Fireworks GalaxyCygnusGalaxy2 h 26 min878 subs5 h 15 min1,893 subs15 h5,401 subs
NGC 6914CygnusReflection nebula2 h 51 min1,026 subs6 h 04 min2,185 subs17 h6,190 subs

Other telescopes in August: Seestar S50 Pro · 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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