How long to image the Flaming Star Nebula with the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro
From a Bortle 6 suburban sky, the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro needs about 2 h 02 min (734 subs of 10 s with the built-in dual-band (LP filter) filter) for a solid image of the Flaming Star Nebula. A quick look takes 31 min; a showpiece 8 h 09 min. Under a Bortle 3 rural sky the solid figure drops to 1 h 27 min. At Bortle 6 the limit is a mix of skyglow and read noise. In this scope's field it fills 22% of the frame’s short side.
| Sky | Quick lookTarget obvious, still noisy | SolidClean enough to share | ShowpieceSmooth faint detail, print-worthy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bortle 1Excellent dark site | 21 min126 subs | 1 h 23 min501 subs | 5 h 34 min2,004 subs |
| Bortle 2Typical dark site | 21 min127 subs | 1 h 25 min508 subs | 5 h 39 min2,032 subs |
| Bortle 3Rural | 22 min131 subs | 1 h 27 min522 subs | 5 h 48 min2,086 subs |
| Bortle 4Rural / suburban transition | 23 min139 subs | 1 h 32 min555 subs | 6 h 09 min2,217 subs |
| Bortle 5Suburban | 25 min152 subs | 1 h 41 min607 subs | 6 h 44 min2,425 subs |
| Bortle 6Bright suburban | 31 min184 subs | 2 h 02 min734 subs | 8 h 09 min2,935 subs |
| Bortle 7Suburban / urban transition | 41 min245 subs | 2 h 43 min977 subs | 11 h3,906 subs |
| Bortle 8City | 56 min339 subs | 3 h 46 min1,354 subs | 15 h5,415 subs |
| Bortle 9Inner city | 1 h 30 min540 subs | 6 h2,158 subs | 24 h8,632 subs |
Power and kit for this session
Allowing for slewing, focusing and rejected subs, that is about 2 h 39 min of run time. The Seestar S30 Pro’s battery (rated about 5 h) should cover it; a power bank still keeps the phone running the app alive. (Bortle 6, solid image; we allow 30% over the integration time, and 30% off the battery for a December night.)
- USB-C power bank 10000mAh 5V 3A5 V 3 A input and it runs while charging.
- Seestar S30 Pro dew shieldActive anti-dew is built in; a shield adds margin. The S30 Pro front differs from the S30, so check the listing.
- red LED head torchRed light keeps your night vision; white light costs you twenty minutes of dark adaptation every time.
- hand warmers long lastingAir-activated packs give hours of heat for the person; winter nights are long and you spend most of them standing still.
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Everything that fits the Seestar S30 Pro →
How it frames
The Flaming Star Nebula is 30′ × 19′ across. The Seestar S30 Pro frames 3.99° × 2.24° at 3.74″ per pixel, so it fills 22% of the frame’s short side.
Longer subs
10, 20 and 30 s in Alt-Az; 60 s only in EQ mode, which needs the TH10 head. Time for a solid image by sub length:
| Sub length | Bortle 3 | Bortle 5 | Bortle 7 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 s | 1 h 27 min522 subs | 1 h 41 min607 subs | 2 h 43 min977 subs |
| 20 s | 1 h 02 min186 subs | 1 h 16 min228 subs | 2 h 18 min413 subs |
| 30 s | 53 min107 subs | 1 h 08 min136 subs | 2 h 09 min259 subs |
| 60 s | 45 min46 subs | 59 min60 subs | 2 h 01 min121 subs |
With and without the dual-band filter
| Filter | Bortle 3 | Bortle 5 | Bortle 7 |
|---|---|---|---|
| UV/IR-cut (no light-pollution filter) | 1 h 12 min433 subs | 1 h 58 min710 subs | 5 h 20 min1,920 subs |
| dual-band (LP filter) | 1 h 27 min522 subs | 1 h 41 min607 subs | 2 h 43 min977 subs |
About the Flaming Star Nebula
Emission and reflection lit by the runaway star AE Aurigae. Dual-band for the red; a broadband stack adds the blue.
IC 405, Caldwell 31 · Emission nebula in Auriga · magnitude 6.0 · 30′ × 19′ · best in Nov, Dec, Jan. Reachable from mid-northern latitudes (UK, northern US, central Europe) and from the south.
Emission nebulae glow in a few narrow lines, mostly hydrogen-alpha (deep red) and doubly ionised oxygen (teal). A dual-band filter passes those lines and blocks most skyglow, which is why it cuts the time needed from a suburban sky so dramatically. Use it. From a genuinely dark site the gain is smaller because there is less skyglow to block, and read noise becomes the limit, which is where longer subs (EQ mode, or Expert Mode on a Vespera) earn their keep.
Stars lose colour through a dual-band filter; a short broadband stack blended in fixes that if you care.
About the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro
The S30 optics upgraded to a quadruplet in front of an 8 MP IMX585. Same speed per pixel as the S30, four times the pixels, so you can crop hard.
10, 20 and 30 s in Alt-Az; 60 s only in EQ mode, which needs the TH10 head. Built-in UV/IR-cut, dual-band (OIII 30 nm / Hα 20 nm) and dark filters on the telephoto camera.
Longer subs matter most under dark skies, where read noise rather than skyglow sets the floor. From a city the difference between 10 s and 60 s subs is small; from a rural site it can halve the total time, especially with a dual-band filter in place.
Stack across nights. Every smart scope app can continue a stack or you can combine the saved frames on a computer; the figures here are totals, not single-session limits.
Have an image of the Flaming Star Nebula from a Seestar S30 Pro? Email it with your total time and sky to [email protected] and it goes here, credited.
Same target, other telescopes
- Flaming Star Nebula with the ZWO Seestar S50: 1 h 41 min from Bortle 6
- Flaming Star Nebula with the ZWO Seestar S50 Pro: 1 h 53 min from Bortle 6
- Flaming Star Nebula with the ZWO Seestar S30: 1 h 58 min from Bortle 6
- Flaming Star Nebula with the DwarfLab DWARF 3: 2 h 05 min from Bortle 6
- Flaming Star Nebula with the DwarfLab DWARF mini: 1 h 40 min from Bortle 6
- Flaming Star Nebula with the DwarfLab Draco: 1 h 20 min from Bortle 6
- Flaming Star Nebula with the DwarfLab DWARF II: 9 h 16 min from Bortle 6
- Flaming Star Nebula with the Vaonis Vespera II: 2 h 42 min from Bortle 6
- Flaming Star Nebula with the Vaonis Vespera Pro: 6 h 03 min from Bortle 6
- Flaming Star Nebula with the Vaonis Vespera 3: 2 h 35 min from Bortle 6
- Flaming Star Nebula with the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2: 5 h 46 min from Bortle 6
- Flaming Star Nebula with the Unistellar eQuinox 2: 2 h 28 min from Bortle 6
- Flaming Star Nebula with the Unistellar Odyssey: 11 h from Bortle 6
- Flaming Star Nebula with the Celestron Origin: 43 min from Bortle 6
- Flaming Star Nebula with the Celestron Origin Mark II: 59 min from Bortle 6
All telescopes for the Flaming Star Nebula · All targets for the Seestar S30 Pro