How long to image the M10 with the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2
From a Bortle 6 suburban sky, the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2 needs about 58 min (350 subs of 10 s) for a solid image of the M10. A quick look takes 15 min; a showpiece 3 h 53 min. Under a Bortle 3 rural sky the solid figure drops to 27 min. At Bortle 6 the limit is skyglow, so a darker site or a filter helps more than longer subs. In this scope's field it fills 20% 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 | 6 min36 subs | 24 min143 subs | 1 h 35 min570 subs |
| Bortle 2Typical dark site | 6 min38 subs | 25 min149 subs | 1 h 39 min595 subs |
| Bortle 3Rural | 7 min41 subs | 27 min161 subs | 1 h 47 min643 subs |
| Bortle 4Rural / suburban transition | 8 min48 subs | 32 min190 subs | 2 h 07 min760 subs |
| Bortle 5Suburban | 10 min60 subs | 39 min237 subs | 2 h 37 min945 subs |
| Bortle 6Bright suburban | 15 min88 subs | 58 min350 subs | 3 h 53 min1,400 subs |
| Bortle 7Suburban / urban transition | 24 min142 subs | 1 h 34 min567 subs | 6 h 18 min2,266 subs |
| Bortle 8City | 38 min226 subs | 2 h 30 min903 subs | 10 h3,611 subs |
| Bortle 9Inner city | 1 h 07 min405 subs | 4 h 30 min1,620 subs | 18 h6,479 subs |
Power and kit for this session
Allowing for slewing, focusing and rejected subs, that is about 1 h 16 min of run time. The Vespera Pro 2’s battery (rated about 11 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.)
- USB-C PD power bank 20000mAh 30WExternal bank extends the 11 h battery.
- red LED head torchRed light keeps your night vision; white light costs you twenty minutes of dark adaptation every time.
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Everything that fits the Vespera Pro 2 →
How it frames
The M10 is 20′ across. The Vespera Pro 2 frames 1.65° × 1.65° at 1.68″ per pixel, so it fills 20% of the frame’s short side.
Longer subs
10 s subs by default; Expert Mode manual targets allow 1 to 30 s. Alt-azimuth only; CovalENS mosaic gives 3.2° × 3.2° at 50 MP. Time for a solid image by sub length:
| Sub length | Bortle 3 | Bortle 5 | Bortle 7 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 s | 27 min161 subs | 39 min237 subs | 1 h 34 min567 subs |
| 20 s | 23 min69 subs | 36 min107 subs | 1 h 31 min272 subs |
| 30 s | 22 min44 subs | 34 min69 subs | 1 h 29 min179 subs |
About the M10
A bright globular in Ophiuchus, three degrees from its twin M12. Both fit a short session.
NGC 6254 · Globular cluster in Ophiuchus · magnitude 6.6 · 20′ · best in May, Jun, Jul. Reachable from mid-northern latitudes (UK, northern US, central Europe) and from the south.
Globular clusters are point sources packed tight, so they come quickly: the core resolves into stars within a handful of minutes on any smart scope. More time deepens the halo and pulls in the faint outer members. Use short subs so the core does not saturate into a white blob, and no filter.
About the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2
The square-sensor 2026 Vespera with 2 µm pixels. Sharper than the Vespera 3 on small targets and correspondingly slower per pixel; the 12.5 MP square frame suits galaxies and planetaries.
10 s subs by default; Expert Mode manual targets allow 1 to 30 s. Alt-azimuth only; CovalENS mosaic gives 3.2° × 3.2° at 50 MP. Optional clip-on Vaonis filters: dual-band, light-pollution (CLS) and solar.
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 30 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 M10 from a Vespera Pro 2? Email it with your total time and sky to [email protected] and it goes here, credited.
Same target, other telescopes
- M10 with the ZWO Seestar S50: 27 min from Bortle 6
- M10 with the ZWO Seestar S50 Pro: 30 min from Bortle 6
- M10 with the ZWO Seestar S30: 29 min from Bortle 6
- M10 with the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro: 32 min from Bortle 6
- M10 with the DwarfLab DWARF 3: 40 min from Bortle 6
- M10 with the DwarfLab DWARF mini: 27 min from Bortle 6
- M10 with the DwarfLab Draco: 23 min from Bortle 6
- M10 with the DwarfLab DWARF II: 1 h 33 min from Bortle 6
- M10 with the Vaonis Vespera II: 27 min from Bortle 6
- M10 with the Vaonis Vespera Pro: 1 h 01 min from Bortle 6
- M10 with the Vaonis Vespera 3: 26 min from Bortle 6
- M10 with the Unistellar eQuinox 2: 24 min from Bortle 6
- M10 with the Unistellar Odyssey: 1 h 51 min from Bortle 6
- M10 with the Celestron Origin: 7 min from Bortle 6
- M10 with the Celestron Origin Mark II: 10 min from Bortle 6
All telescopes for the M10 · All targets for the Vespera Pro 2