How long to image the Tadpoles Nebula with the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro
From a Bortle 6 suburban sky, the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro needs about 2 h 53 min (1,036 subs of 10 s with the built-in dual-band (LP filter) filter) for a solid image of the Tadpoles Nebula. A quick look takes 43 min; a showpiece 12 h. Under a Bortle 3 rural sky the solid figure drops to 2 h 01 min. At Bortle 6 the limit is a mix of skyglow and read noise. In this scope's field it fills 30% 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 | 29 min175 subs | 1 h 56 min699 subs | 7 h 46 min2,795 subs |
| Bortle 2Typical dark site | 30 min178 subs | 1 h 58 min709 subs | 7 h 53 min2,836 subs |
| Bortle 3Rural | 30 min183 subs | 2 h 01 min729 subs | 8 h 06 min2,914 subs |
| Bortle 4Rural / suburban transition | 32 min194 subs | 2 h 09 min776 subs | 8 h 37 min3,104 subs |
| Bortle 5Suburban | 35 min213 subs | 2 h 22 min851 subs | 9 h 27 min3,404 subs |
| Bortle 6Bright suburban | 43 min259 subs | 2 h 53 min1,036 subs | 12 h4,141 subs |
| Bortle 7Suburban / urban transition | 58 min347 subs | 3 h 51 min1,387 subs | 15 h5,545 subs |
| Bortle 8City | 1 h 20 min483 subs | 5 h 22 min1,932 subs | 21 h7,725 subs |
| Bortle 9Inner city | 2 h 09 min774 subs | 8 h 36 min3,094 subs | 34 h12,375 subs |
Power and kit for this session
Allowing for slewing, focusing and rejected subs, that is about 3 h 44 min of run time. The Seestar S30 Pro’s battery is rated at about 5 h, less near freezing, so the session needs an external power bank. (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 Tadpoles Nebula is 40′ × 30′ across. The Seestar S30 Pro frames 3.99° × 2.24° at 3.74″ per pixel, so it fills 30% 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 | 2 h 01 min729 subs | 2 h 22 min851 subs | 3 h 51 min1,387 subs |
| 20 s | 1 h 25 min256 subs | 1 h 46 min317 subs | 3 h 15 min585 subs |
| 30 s | 1 h 13 min147 subs | 1 h 33 min187 subs | 3 h 03 min366 subs |
| 60 s | 1 h 01 min61 subs | 1 h 21 min82 subs | 2 h 51 min171 subs |
With and without the dual-band filter
| Filter | Bortle 3 | Bortle 5 | Bortle 7 |
|---|---|---|---|
| UV/IR-cut (no light-pollution filter) | 1 h 41 min609 subs | 2 h 48 min1,009 subs | 7 h 39 min2,757 subs |
| dual-band (LP filter) | 2 h 01 min729 subs | 2 h 22 min851 subs | 3 h 51 min1,387 subs |
About the Tadpoles Nebula
A hydrogen cloud around the cluster NGC 1893, with two tadpole-shaped pillars. Sits in a frame with the Flaming Star on a wide scope.
IC 410 · Emission nebula in Auriga · magnitude 7.5 · 40′ × 30′ · 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 Tadpoles 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
- Tadpoles Nebula with the ZWO Seestar S50: 2 h 22 min from Bortle 6
- Tadpoles Nebula with the ZWO Seestar S50 Pro: 2 h 40 min from Bortle 6
- Tadpoles Nebula with the ZWO Seestar S30: 2 h 47 min from Bortle 6
- Tadpoles Nebula with the DwarfLab DWARF 3: 2 h 55 min from Bortle 6
- Tadpoles Nebula with the DwarfLab DWARF mini: 2 h 20 min from Bortle 6
- Tadpoles Nebula with the DwarfLab Draco: 1 h 52 min from Bortle 6
- Tadpoles Nebula with the DwarfLab DWARF II: 13 h from Bortle 6
- Tadpoles Nebula with the Vaonis Vespera II: 3 h 51 min from Bortle 6
- Tadpoles Nebula with the Vaonis Vespera Pro: 8 h 39 min from Bortle 6
- Tadpoles Nebula with the Vaonis Vespera 3: 3 h 41 min from Bortle 6
- Tadpoles Nebula with the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2: 8 h 15 min from Bortle 6
- Tadpoles Nebula with the Unistellar eQuinox 2: 3 h 32 min from Bortle 6
- Tadpoles Nebula with the Unistellar Odyssey: 16 h from Bortle 6
- Tadpoles Nebula with the Celestron Origin: 1 h 01 min from Bortle 6
- Tadpoles Nebula with the Celestron Origin Mark II: 1 h 24 min from Bortle 6
All telescopes for the Tadpoles Nebula · All targets for the Seestar S30 Pro