How long to image the M108 with the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2
From a Bortle 6 suburban sky, the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2 needs about 3 h 04 min (1,103 subs of 10 s) for a solid image of the M108. A quick look takes 46 min; a showpiece 12 h. Under a Bortle 3 rural sky the solid figure drops to 1 h 20 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 9% 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 | 18 min106 subs | 1 h 10 min422 subs | 4 h 41 min1,686 subs |
| Bortle 2Typical dark site | 18 min111 subs | 1 h 14 min443 subs | 4 h 55 min1,769 subs |
| Bortle 3Rural | 20 min121 subs | 1 h 20 min482 subs | 5 h 21 min1,928 subs |
| Bortle 4Rural / suburban transition | 24 min145 subs | 1 h 36 min578 subs | 6 h 25 min2,312 subs |
| Bortle 5Suburban | 30 min183 subs | 2 h 02 min730 subs | 8 h 07 min2,920 subs |
| Bortle 6Bright suburban | 46 min276 subs | 3 h 04 min1,103 subs | 12 h4,412 subs |
| Bortle 7Suburban / urban transition | 1 h 16 min454 subs | 5 h 02 min1,814 subs | 20 h7,256 subs |
| Bortle 8City | 2 h 02 min730 subs | 8 h 06 min2,918 subs | 32 h11,671 subs |
| Bortle 9Inner city | 3 h 40 min1,318 subs | 15 h5,272 subs | 59 h21,088 subs |
Power and kit for this session
Allowing for slewing, focusing and rejected subs, that is about 3 h 59 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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How it frames
The M108 is 8.7′ × 2.2′ across. The Vespera Pro 2 frames 1.65° × 1.65° at 1.68″ per pixel, so it fills 9% 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 | 1 h 20 min482 subs | 2 h 02 min730 subs | 5 h 02 min1,814 subs |
| 20 s | 1 h 08 min204 subs | 1 h 49 min328 subs | 4 h 50 min870 subs |
| 30 s | 1 h 04 min128 subs | 1 h 45 min210 subs | 4 h 46 min572 subs |
About the M108
An edge-on spiral with a mottled, dusty disc, a degree from the Owl Nebula. Frame both together.
NGC 3556 · Galaxy in Ursa Major · magnitude 10.0 · 8.7′ × 2.2′ · best in Feb, Mar, Apr. Reachable from mid-northern latitudes (UK, northern US, central Europe) and from the south.
Galaxies are broadband targets: their light is mostly starlight spread across the spectrum, so a dual-band filter throws most of it away and makes things slower, not faster. Shoot without a filter (or with a plain UV/IR cut) and rely on total time and a dark sky. The core of a galaxy is usually many times brighter than its outer disc, so a short stack shows the nucleus long before the arms; the figures here are for the arms and disc, not the core.
Field rotation in Alt-Az mode crops the edges of the stack over a long session, so on a big galaxy re-centre now and then or use EQ mode where your scope supports it.
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 M108 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
- M108 with the ZWO Seestar S50: 1 h 26 min from Bortle 6
- M108 with the ZWO Seestar S50 Pro: 1 h 34 min from Bortle 6
- M108 with the ZWO Seestar S30: 1 h 30 min from Bortle 6
- M108 with the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro: 1 h 40 min from Bortle 6
- M108 with the DwarfLab DWARF 3: 2 h 06 min from Bortle 6
- M108 with the DwarfLab DWARF mini: 1 h 26 min from Bortle 6
- M108 with the DwarfLab Draco: 1 h 11 min from Bortle 6
- M108 with the DwarfLab DWARF II: 4 h 54 min from Bortle 6
- M108 with the Vaonis Vespera II: 1 h 26 min from Bortle 6
- M108 with the Vaonis Vespera Pro: 3 h 13 min from Bortle 6
- M108 with the Vaonis Vespera 3: 1 h 22 min from Bortle 6
- M108 with the Unistellar eQuinox 2: 1 h 18 min from Bortle 6
- M108 with the Unistellar Odyssey: 5 h 57 min from Bortle 6
- M108 with the Celestron Origin: 23 min from Bortle 6
- M108 with the Celestron Origin Mark II: 31 min from Bortle 6
All telescopes for the M108 · All targets for the Vespera Pro 2