How Many Subs

What to image in July with the ZWO Seestar S30

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 Seestar S30 gets a solid image of 42 of them in under an hour each; 17 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 S30, 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
Butterfly ClusterScorpiusOpen cluster5 min30 subs5 min30 subs6 min34 subs
Ptolemy's ClusterScorpiusOpen cluster5 min30 subs5 min30 subs6 min34 subs
Wild Duck ClusterScutumOpen cluster5 min30 subs5 min30 subs6 min37 subs
M18SagittariusOpen cluster5 min30 subs5 min30 subs9 min57 subs
M21SagittariusOpen cluster5 min30 subs5 min30 subs6 min39 subs
M23SagittariusOpen cluster5 min30 subs5 min30 subs6 min34 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
M29CygnusOpen cluster5 min30 subs6 min35 subs12 min73 subs
NGC 6939CepheusOpen cluster5 min30 subs6 min35 subs12 min73 subs
M92HerculesGlobular cluster5 min30 subs6 min38 subs14 min86 subs
M28SagittariusGlobular cluster5 min30 subs7 min40 subs15 min89 subs
Ring NebulaLyra, dual-bandPlanetary nebula7 min40 subs7 min45 subs10 min63 subs
Hercules ClusterHerculesGlobular cluster5 min30 subs8 min46 subs18 min109 subs
M62OphiuchusGlobular cluster5 min31 subs9 min52 subs21 min124 subs
Sagittarius Star CloudSagittariusStar cloud5 min33 subs9 min56 subs22 min133 subs
M15PegasusGlobular cluster6 min36 subs10 min61 subs24 min147 subs
M2AquariusGlobular cluster6 min38 subs11 min65 subs26 min159 subs
Cat's Eye NebulaDraco, dual-bandPlanetary nebula10 min59 subs11 min68 subs16 min99 subs
Turtle NebulaHercules, dual-bandPlanetary nebula10 min59 subs11 min68 subs16 min99 subs
Blinking PlanetaryCygnus, dual-bandPlanetary nebula10 min59 subs11 min68 subs16 min99 subs
Saturn NebulaAquarius, dual-bandPlanetary nebula10 min59 subs11 min68 subs16 min99 subs
M80ScorpiusGlobular cluster7 min42 subs11 min69 subs27 min162 subs
M30CapricornusGlobular cluster7 min44 subs12 min74 subs29 min177 subs
M22SagittariusGlobular cluster7 min45 subs13 min78 subs32 min191 subs
M55SagittariusGlobular cluster8 min50 subs14 min87 subs36 min215 subs
M12OphiuchusGlobular cluster9 min52 subs15 min91 subs37 min225 subs
M70SagittariusGlobular cluster10 min61 subs17 min103 subs41 min247 subs
M69SagittariusGlobular cluster10 min62 subs18 min106 subs43 min258 subs
M75SagittariusGlobular cluster12 min71 subs20 min119 subs47 min284 subs
M71SagittaGlobular cluster12 min71 subs20 min119 subs48 min287 subs
M19OphiuchusGlobular cluster12 min74 subs22 min133 subs57 min340 subs
Lagoon NebulaSagittarius, dual-bandEmission nebula18 min110 subs22 min135 subs37 min221 subs
Dumbbell NebulaVulpecula, dual-bandPlanetary nebula19 min113 subs23 min136 subs35 min213 subs
M14OphiuchusGlobular cluster13 min80 subs24 min142 subs1 h358 subs
Omega NebulaSagittarius, dual-bandEmission nebula21 min128 subs26 min157 subs42 min255 subs
M10OphiuchusGlobular cluster16 min94 subs29 min173 subs1 h 14 min446 subs
M54SagittariusGlobular cluster16 min98 subs30 min179 subs1 h 16 min459 subs
M9OphiuchusGlobular cluster19 min115 subs35 min212 subs1 h 31 min549 subs
M56LyraGlobular cluster23 min140 subs43 min256 subs1 h 49 min656 subs
Trifid NebulaSagittarius, dual-bandEmission nebula40 min241 subs51 min304 subs1 h 27 min521 subs
M107OphiuchusGlobular cluster32 min195 subs1 h 02 min373 subs2 h 45 min992 subs
Eagle NebulaSerpens, dual-bandEmission nebula56 min334 subs1 h 11 min425 subs2 h 03 min739 subs
M72AquariusGlobular cluster40 min241 subs1 h 15 min449 subs3 h 15 min1,170 subs
M4ScorpiusGlobular cluster40 min240 subs1 h 18 min469 subs3 h 30 min1,260 subs
Eastern Veil NebulaCygnus, dual-bandSupernova remnant1 h 11 min429 subs1 h 31 min548 subs2 h 40 min962 subs
North America NebulaCygnus, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 18 min466 subs1 h 39 min597 subs2 h 55 min1,050 subs
Western Veil NebulaCygnus, dual-bandSupernova remnant1 h 24 min507 subs1 h 48 min651 subs3 h 11 min1,148 subs
Iris NebulaCepheusReflection nebula1 h359 subs1 h 59 min716 subs5 h 24 min1,947 subs
Pelican NebulaCygnus, dual-bandEmission nebula1 h 49 min653 subs2 h 20 min843 subs4 h 10 min1,498 subs
Elephant's Trunk NebulaCepheus, dual-bandEmission nebula2 h 09 min775 subs2 h 47 min1,003 subs4 h 58 min1,790 subs
Tulip NebulaCygnus, dual-bandEmission nebula2 h 09 min775 subs2 h 47 min1,003 subs4 h 58 min1,790 subs
NGC 6781Aquila, dual-bandPlanetary nebula2 h 28 min887 subs3 h 09 min1,132 subs5 h 30 min1,981 subs
Crescent NebulaCygnus, dual-bandEmission nebula2 h 33 min920 subs3 h 19 min1,194 subs5 h 57 min2,141 subs
Cocoon NebulaCygnus, dual-bandEmission nebula2 h 41 min968 subs3 h 29 min1,253 subs6 h 13 min2,238 subs
Fireworks GalaxyCygnusGalaxy2 h 43 min977 subs5 h 32 min1,992 subs15 h5,500 subs
NGC 6914CygnusReflection nebula3 h 10 min1,139 subs6 h 23 min2,298 subs18 h6,303 subs
Abell 39Hercules, dual-bandPlanetary nebula20 h7,041 subs26 h9,279 subs47 h17,015 subs

Other telescopes in July: Seestar S50 · Seestar S50 Pro · 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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