What to image in December with the DwarfLab DWARF II

Orion is back in the evening sky with the Pleiades above it and the Rosette rising. Andromeda is still high early on. Christmas Moon permitting, the longest nights of the year give the most integration per night you will get.

Moon in December 2026: new on 9 Dec, full on 24 Dec. Broadband targets (galaxies, clusters) want the week either side of new; emission nebulae behind a dual-band filter tolerate the rest.

39 targets transit near midnight in December. From a suburban sky the DWARF II gets a solid image of 16 of them in under an hour each; 23 need longer, or a darker sky, or several nights. Times below use the recommended filter and 15 s subs.

Solid image with the DwarfLab DWARF II, sorted by the Bortle 6 figure. Each link opens the full Bortle 1 to 9 table with sub-length and filter comparisons.
Target	Type	Bortle 4	Bortle 6	Bortle 8
M34Perseus	Open cluster	8 min30 subs	8 min33 subs	16 min66 subs
M35Gemini	Open cluster	8 min30 subs	8 min33 subs	16 min66 subs
M37Auriga	Open cluster	8 min30 subs	8 min33 subs	16 min66 subs
M38Auriga	Open cluster	8 min30 subs	8 min33 subs	16 min66 subs
M41Canis Major	Open cluster	8 min30 subs	8 min33 subs	16 min66 subs
M46Puppis	Open cluster	8 min30 subs	8 min33 subs	16 min66 subs
M47Puppis	Open cluster	8 min30 subs	8 min33 subs	16 min66 subs
M50Monoceros	Open cluster	8 min30 subs	8 min33 subs	16 min66 subs
M93Puppis	Open cluster	8 min30 subs	8 min33 subs	16 min66 subs
Double ClusterPerseus	Open cluster	8 min30 subs	8 min33 subs	16 min66 subs
Rosette ClusterMonoceros	Open cluster	8 min30 subs	8 min33 subs	16 min66 subs
M36Auriga	Open cluster	8 min30 subs	10 min42 subs	21 min83 subs
NGC 1893Auriga	Open cluster	8 min32 subs	11 min45 subs	22 min90 subs
Eskimo NebulaGemini	Planetary nebula	27 min108 subs	40 min162 subs	1 h 27 min348 subs
M79Lepus	Globular cluster	34 min136 subs	53 min212 subs	1 h 58 min474 subs
Orion NebulaOrion	Emission nebula	35 min141 subs	57 min228 subs	2 h 12 min529 subs
M77Cetus	Galaxy	1 h 03 min252 subs	1 h 41 min404 subs	3 h 51 min926 subs
Crab NebulaTaurus	Supernova remnant	1 h 19 min318 subs	2 h 08 min513 subs	4 h 57 min1,190 subs
De Mairan's NebulaOrion	Emission nebula	1 h 35 min380 subs	2 h 41 min643 subs	6 h 28 min1,551 subs
Flame NebulaOrion	Emission nebula	1 h 35 min380 subs	2 h 41 min643 subs	6 h 28 min1,551 subs
Tarantula NebulaDorado	Emission nebula	1 h 35 min380 subs	2 h 41 min643 subs	6 h 28 min1,551 subs
M78Orion	Reflection nebula	2 h 07 min509 subs	3 h 32 min850 subs	8 h 27 min2,028 subs
Running Man NebulaOrion	Reflection nebula	2 h 13 min534 subs	3 h 48 min914 subs	9 h 16 min2,226 subs
Rosette NebulaMonoceros	Emission nebula	4 h 27 min1,067 subs	7 h 45 min1,860 subs	19 h4,602 subs
PleiadesTaurus	Reflection nebula	5 h 18 min1,271 subs	9 h 16 min2,225 subs	23 h5,521 subs
Flaming Star NebulaAuriga	Emission nebula	5 h 18 min1,271 subs	9 h 16 min2,225 subs	23 h5,521 subs
Monkey Head NebulaOrion	Emission nebula	5 h 18 min1,271 subs	9 h 16 min2,225 subs	23 h5,521 subs
NGC 891Andromeda	Galaxy	5 h 23 min1,292 subs	9 h 24 min2,257 subs	23 h5,592 subs
California NebulaPerseus	Emission nebula	6 h 19 min1,516 subs	11 h2,663 subs	28 h6,625 subs
Horsehead NebulaOrion	Emission nebula	6 h 19 min1,516 subs	11 h2,663 subs	28 h6,625 subs
NGC 2403Camelopardalis	Galaxy	6 h 19 min1,516 subs	11 h2,663 subs	28 h6,625 subs
Tadpoles NebulaAuriga	Emission nebula	7 h 32 min1,809 subs	13 h3,187 subs	33 h7,952 subs
Heart NebulaCassiopeia	Emission nebula	9 h2,159 subs	16 h3,817 subs	40 h9,545 subs
Soul NebulaCassiopeia	Emission nebula	11 h2,579 subs	19 h4,572 subs	48 h11,459 subs
NGC 1333Perseus	Reflection nebula	12 h2,860 subs	21 h5,006 subs	52 h12,422 subs
Cone and Christmas TreeMonoceros	Emission nebula	13 h3,083 subs	23 h5,479 subs	57 h13,758 subs
Jellyfish NebulaGemini	Supernova remnant	13 h3,083 subs	23 h5,479 subs	57 h13,758 subs
Thor's HelmetCanis Major	Emission nebula	20 h4,836 subs	36 h8,572 subs	90 h21,485 subs
Witch Head NebulaEridanus	Reflection nebula	78 h18,735 subs	140+ h33,852 subs	360+ h86,092 subs

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

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