How Many Subs

What to image in July with the DwarfLab Draco

The Milky Way core is up after midnight: the Lagoon, Trifid, Eagle and Swan nebulae, low in the south from Britain and northern Europe but spectacular from the southern US and the southern hemisphere. Cygnus and the Veil are high by the small hours. Dual-band filter on for all of them.

Moon in July 2027: new on 4 Jul, full on 18 Jul. Broadband targets (galaxies, clusters) want the week either side of new; emission nebulae behind a dual-band filter tolerate the rest.

59 targets transit near midnight in July. From a suburban sky the Draco gets a solid image of 45 of them in under an hour each; 14 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.
TargetTypeBortle 4Bortle 6Bortle 8
M2AquariusGlobular cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs21 min43 subs
Butterfly ClusterScorpiusOpen cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs15 min30 subs
Ptolemy's ClusterScorpiusOpen cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs15 min30 subs
Wild Duck ClusterScutumOpen cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs15 min30 subs
M12OphiuchusGlobular cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs31 min62 subs
Hercules ClusterHerculesGlobular cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs15 min30 subs
M15PegasusGlobular cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs20 min40 subs
M18SagittariusOpen cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs15 min30 subs
M21SagittariusOpen cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs15 min30 subs
M22SagittariusGlobular cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs26 min52 subs
M23SagittariusOpen cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs15 min30 subs
Sagittarius Star CloudSagittariusStar cloud15 min30 subs15 min30 subs18 min37 subs
M25SagittariusOpen cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs15 min30 subs
M26ScutumOpen cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs15 min30 subs
M28SagittariusGlobular cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs15 min30 subs
M29CygnusOpen cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs15 min30 subs
M30CapricornusGlobular cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs24 min49 subs
M39CygnusOpen cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs15 min30 subs
M55SagittariusGlobular cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs29 min59 subs
Ring NebulaLyra, dual-bandPlanetary nebula15 min30 subs15 min30 subs15 min30 subs
M62OphiuchusGlobular cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs17 min34 subs
M69SagittariusGlobular cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs35 min70 subs
M70SagittariusGlobular cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs34 min68 subs
M80ScorpiusGlobular cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs22 min44 subs
M92HerculesGlobular cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs15 min30 subs
Cat's Eye NebulaDraco, dual-bandPlanetary nebula15 min30 subs15 min30 subs15 min30 subs
Turtle NebulaHercules, dual-bandPlanetary nebula15 min30 subs15 min30 subs15 min30 subs
Blinking PlanetaryCygnus, dual-bandPlanetary nebula15 min30 subs15 min30 subs15 min30 subs
NGC 6939CepheusOpen cluster15 min30 subs15 min30 subs15 min30 subs
Saturn NebulaAquarius, dual-bandPlanetary nebula15 min30 subs15 min30 subs15 min30 subs
M75SagittariusGlobular cluster15 min30 subs16 min32 subs39 min78 subs
M71SagittaGlobular cluster15 min30 subs16 min32 subs39 min78 subs
Lagoon NebulaSagittarius, dual-bandEmission nebula15 min30 subs16 min32 subs28 min56 subs
Dumbbell NebulaVulpecula, dual-bandPlanetary nebula15 min30 subs16 min33 subs27 min54 subs
M19OphiuchusGlobular cluster15 min30 subs17 min35 subs46 min93 subs
Omega NebulaSagittarius, dual-bandEmission nebula15 min30 subs18 min37 subs32 min64 subs
M14OphiuchusGlobular cluster15 min30 subs19 min38 subs49 min98 subs
M10OphiuchusGlobular cluster15 min30 subs23 min46 subs1 h 01 min122 subs
M54SagittariusGlobular cluster15 min30 subs23 min47 subs1 h 02 min125 subs
M9OphiuchusGlobular cluster15 min30 subs28 min56 subs1 h 14 min149 subs
M56LyraGlobular cluster17 min35 subs33 min67 subs1 h 29 min179 subs
Trifid NebulaSagittarius, dual-bandEmission nebula26 min53 subs35 min70 subs1 h 05 min130 subs
Eagle NebulaSerpens, dual-bandEmission nebula36 min72 subs48 min97 subs1 h 32 min184 subs
M107OphiuchusGlobular cluster24 min48 subs49 min98 subs2 h 15 min270 subs
M72AquariusGlobular cluster30 min60 subs59 min118 subs2 h 39 min318 subs
M4ScorpiusGlobular cluster29 min59 subs1 h 01 min123 subs2 h 51 min342 subs
Eastern Veil NebulaCygnus, dual-bandSupernova remnant45 min91 subs1 h 02 min125 subs1 h 59 min239 subs
North America NebulaCygnus, dual-bandEmission nebula49 min99 subs1 h 08 min136 subs2 h 10 min261 subs
Western Veil NebulaCygnus, dual-bandSupernova remnant53 min107 subs1 h 13 min147 subs2 h 22 min285 subs
Iris NebulaCepheusReflection nebula44 min88 subs1 h 33 min187 subs4 h 24 min529 subs
Pelican NebulaCygnus, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 08 min137 subs1 h 35 min190 subs3 h 06 min372 subs
Elephant's Trunk NebulaCepheus, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 21 min162 subs1 h 52 min225 subs3 h 42 min444 subs
Tulip NebulaCygnus, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 21 min162 subs1 h 52 min225 subs3 h 42 min444 subs
NGC 6781Aquila, dual-bandPlanetary nebula1 h 34 min189 subs2 h 08 min257 subs4 h 06 min493 subs
Crescent NebulaCygnus, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 36 min192 subs2 h 14 min268 subs4 h 25 min531 subs
Cocoon NebulaCygnus, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 41 min202 subs2 h 21 min282 subs4 h 37 min555 subs
Fireworks GalaxyCygnusGalaxy1 h 58 min236 subs4 h 19 min518 subs12 h1,493 subs
NGC 6914CygnusReflection nebula2 h 18 min276 subs4 h 59 min598 subs14 h1,711 subs
Abell 39Hercules, dual-bandPlanetary nebula12 h1,431 subs17 h2,053 subs35 h4,202 subs

Other telescopes in July: 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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