What to image in January with the DwarfLab Draco

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 Draco gets a solid image of 25 of them in under an hour each; 12 need longer, or a darker sky, or several nights. Times below use the recommended filter and 30 s subs.

Solid image with the DwarfLab Draco, 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
M35Gemini	Open cluster	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs
M36Auriga	Open cluster	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs
M37Auriga	Open cluster	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs
M38Auriga	Open cluster	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs
M41Canis Major	Open cluster	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs
Orion NebulaOrion, dual-band	Emission nebula	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs	17 min34 subs
Beehive ClusterCancer	Open cluster	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs
M46Puppis	Open cluster	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs
M47Puppis	Open cluster	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs
M48Hydra	Open cluster	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs
M50Monoceros	Open cluster	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs
M67Cancer	Open cluster	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs
M79Lepus	Globular cluster	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs	33 min66 subs
M93Puppis	Open cluster	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs
Rosette ClusterMonoceros	Open cluster	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs
Eskimo NebulaGemini, dual-band	Planetary nebula	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs
NGC 1893Auriga	Open cluster	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs	15 min30 subs
Crab NebulaTaurus, dual-band	Supernova remnant	18 min36 subs	22 min45 subs	38 min76 subs
De Mairan's NebulaOrion, dual-band	Emission nebula	19 min39 subs	25 min51 subs	46 min93 subs
Flame NebulaOrion, dual-band	Emission nebula	19 min39 subs	25 min51 subs	46 min93 subs
Tarantula NebulaDorado, dual-band	Emission nebula	19 min39 subs	25 min51 subs	46 min93 subs
Cigar GalaxyUrsa Major	Galaxy	15 min30 subs	28 min57 subs	1 h 16 min152 subs
M78Orion	Reflection nebula	26 min52 subs	52 min104 subs	2 h 20 min280 subs
Bode's GalaxyUrsa Major	Galaxy	25 min51 subs	52 min105 subs	2 h 26 min292 subs
Running Man NebulaOrion	Reflection nebula	26 min53 subs	55 min110 subs	2 h 33 min307 subs
Rosette NebulaMonoceros, dual-band	Emission nebula	49 min99 subs	1 h 08 min136 subs	2 h 10 min261 subs
Flaming Star NebulaAuriga, dual-band	Emission nebula	58 min117 subs	1 h 20 min160 subs	2 h 36 min312 subs
Monkey Head NebulaOrion, dual-band	Emission nebula	58 min117 subs	1 h 20 min160 subs	2 h 36 min312 subs
California NebulaPerseus, dual-band	Emission nebula	1 h 08 min137 subs	1 h 35 min190 subs	3 h 06 min372 subs
Horsehead NebulaOrion, dual-band	Emission nebula	1 h 08 min137 subs	1 h 35 min190 subs	3 h 06 min372 subs
Tadpoles NebulaAuriga, dual-band	Emission nebula	1 h 21 min162 subs	1 h 52 min225 subs	3 h 42 min444 subs
NGC 2903Leo	Galaxy	54 min109 subs	1 h 56 min232 subs	5 h 29 min658 subs
NGC 2403Camelopardalis	Galaxy	1 h 13 min146 subs	2 h 39 min318 subs	7 h 36 min912 subs
Cone and Christmas TreeMonoceros, dual-band	Emission nebula	2 h 14 min268 subs	3 h 09 min378 subs	6 h 19 min759 subs
Jellyfish NebulaGemini, dual-band	Supernova remnant	2 h 14 min268 subs	3 h 09 min378 subs	6 h 19 min759 subs
Thor's HelmetCanis Major, dual-band	Emission nebula	3 h 32 min424 subs	4 h 58 min596 subs	9 h 54 min1,189 subs
Witch Head NebulaEridanus	Reflection nebula	14 h1,730 subs	33 h3,998 subs	99 h11,835 subs

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

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