How Many Subs

What to image in January with the DwarfLab DWARF mini

The long nights of midwinter belong to Orion. The Orion Nebula is up for hours, the emission regions around it (Flame, Horsehead, Rosette, the Christmas Tree cluster) respond to a dual-band filter even from town, and Andromeda and the Pleiades are still high in the west early in the evening. Cold, dry air is the best seeing of the year; dew and battery life are the enemies.

Moon in January 2027: new on 7 Jan, full on 22 Jan. Broadband targets (galaxies, clusters) want the week either side of new; emission nebulae behind a dual-band filter tolerate the rest.

37 targets transit near midnight in January. From a suburban sky the DWARF mini gets a solid image of 22 of them in under an hour each; 15 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 mini, 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
M35GeminiOpen cluster8 min30 subs8 min30 subs8 min30 subs
M36AurigaOpen cluster8 min30 subs8 min30 subs8 min30 subs
M37AurigaOpen cluster8 min30 subs8 min30 subs8 min30 subs
M38AurigaOpen cluster8 min30 subs8 min30 subs8 min30 subs
M41Canis MajorOpen cluster8 min30 subs8 min30 subs8 min30 subs
Beehive ClusterCancerOpen cluster8 min30 subs8 min30 subs8 min30 subs
M46PuppisOpen cluster8 min30 subs8 min30 subs8 min30 subs
M47PuppisOpen cluster8 min30 subs8 min30 subs8 min30 subs
M48HydraOpen cluster8 min30 subs8 min30 subs8 min30 subs
M50MonocerosOpen cluster8 min30 subs8 min30 subs8 min30 subs
M67CancerOpen cluster8 min30 subs8 min30 subs8 min30 subs
M93PuppisOpen cluster8 min30 subs8 min30 subs8 min30 subs
Rosette ClusterMonocerosOpen cluster8 min30 subs8 min30 subs8 min30 subs
NGC 1893AurigaOpen cluster8 min30 subs8 min30 subs8 min31 subs
Eskimo NebulaGemini, dual-bandPlanetary nebula9 min35 subs10 min41 subs15 min62 subs
Orion NebulaOrion, dual-bandEmission nebula10 min40 subs12 min50 subs21 min83 subs
M79LepusGlobular cluster9 min37 subs16 min64 subs40 min159 subs
Crab NebulaTaurus, dual-bandSupernova remnant22 min90 subs28 min111 subs46 min186 subs
De Mairan's NebulaOrion, dual-bandEmission nebula24 min96 subs31 min125 subs56 min225 subs
Flame NebulaOrion, dual-bandEmission nebula24 min96 subs31 min125 subs56 min225 subs
Tarantula NebulaDorado, dual-bandEmission nebula24 min96 subs31 min125 subs56 min225 subs
Cigar GalaxyUrsa MajorGalaxy18 min72 subs34 min138 subs1 h 32 min367 subs
M78OrionReflection nebula32 min128 subs1 h 02 min250 subs2 h 48 min674 subs
Bode's GalaxyUrsa MajorGalaxy31 min124 subs1 h 03 min254 subs2 h 56 min703 subs
Running Man NebulaOrionReflection nebula32 min130 subs1 h 07 min267 subs3 h 05 min739 subs
Rosette NebulaMonoceros, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 02 min249 subs1 h 24 min336 subs2 h 40 min639 subs
Flaming Star NebulaAuriga, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 13 min293 subs1 h 40 min399 subs3 h 10 min762 subs
Monkey Head NebulaOrion, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 13 min293 subs1 h 40 min399 subs3 h 10 min762 subs
California NebulaPerseus, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 26 min346 subs1 h 58 min473 subs3 h 47 min909 subs
Horsehead NebulaOrion, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 26 min346 subs1 h 58 min473 subs3 h 47 min909 subs
Tadpoles NebulaAuriga, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 42 min409 subs2 h 20 min561 subs4 h 31 min1,086 subs
NGC 2903LeoGalaxy1 h 06 min266 subs2 h 20 min562 subs6 h 36 min1,585 subs
NGC 2403CamelopardalisGalaxy1 h 29 min358 subs3 h 13 min771 subs9 h 09 min2,197 subs
Cone and Christmas TreeMonoceros, dual-bandEmission nebula2 h 50 min680 subs3 h 56 min944 subs7 h 44 min1,856 subs
Jellyfish NebulaGemini, dual-bandSupernova remnant2 h 50 min680 subs3 h 56 min944 subs7 h 44 min1,856 subs
Thor's HelmetCanis Major, dual-bandEmission nebula4 h 28 min1,074 subs6 h 11 min1,486 subs12 h2,909 subs
Witch Head NebulaEridanusReflection nebula18 h4,262 subs40 h9,704 subs120+ h28,510 subs

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

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