How long to image the M2 with the DwarfLab DWARF II
From a Bortle 6 suburban sky, the DwarfLab DWARF II needs about 34 min (138 subs of 15 s) for a solid image of the M2. A quick look takes 9 min; a showpiece 2 h 17 min. Under a Bortle 3 rural sky the solid figure drops to 20 min. At Bortle 6 the limit is a mix of skyglow and read noise. In this scope's field it fills 15% 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 | 5 min19 subs | 18 min73 subs | 1 h 13 min291 subs |
| Bortle 2Typical dark site | 5 min19 subs | 19 min75 subs | 1 h 15 min299 subs |
| Bortle 3Rural | 5 min20 subs | 20 min79 subs | 1 h 18 min314 subs |
| Bortle 4Rural / suburban transition | 5 min22 subs | 22 min88 subs | 1 h 28 min351 subs |
| Bortle 5Suburban | 6 min26 subs | 25 min102 subs | 1 h 42 min408 subs |
| Bortle 6Bright suburban | 9 min35 subs | 34 min138 subs | 2 h 17 min550 subs |
| Bortle 7Suburban / urban transition | 13 min52 subs | 51 min206 subs | 3 h 25 min821 subs |
| Bortle 8City | 19 min78 subs | 1 h 18 min311 subs | 5 h 10 min1,241 subs |
| Bortle 9Inner city | 33 min134 subs | 2 h 14 min535 subs | 8 h 54 min2,137 subs |
Power and kit for this session
Allowing for slewing, focusing and rejected subs, that is about 45 min of run time. The DWARF II’s battery (rated about 3 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 10000mAh 18W18 W PD input; runs while charging.
- 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 DWARF II →
How it frames
The M2 is 16′ across. The DWARF II frames 3.19° × 1.79° at 2.99″ per pixel, so it fills 15% of the frame’s short side.
About the M2
A rich, compact globular in Aquarius. Resolves well at the edges even in a short stack.
NGC 7089 · Globular cluster in Aquarius · magnitude 6.5 · 16′ · best in Jul, Aug, Sep. 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 DwarfLab DWARF II
The original pocket scope. 24 mm aperture and tiny 1.45 µm pixels mean it is slow per pixel, so bin or downsample and be patient.
15 s is the hard maximum in any mode; DwarfLab recommends EQ mode at 15 s. Two built-in filters, VIS and Astro (IR-pass); no dual-band. The optional UHC filter is no longer sold.
The DWARF II uses fixed 15 s subs, so the only levers you have are the sky you shoot from, the filter, and total time.
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 M2 from a DWARF II? Email it with your total time and sky to [email protected] and it goes here, credited.
Same target, other telescopes
- M2 with the ZWO Seestar S50: 10 min from Bortle 6
- M2 with the ZWO Seestar S50 Pro: 11 min from Bortle 6
- M2 with the ZWO Seestar S30: 11 min from Bortle 6
- M2 with the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro: 12 min from Bortle 6
- M2 with the DwarfLab DWARF 3: 15 min from Bortle 6
- M2 with the DwarfLab DWARF mini: 10 min from Bortle 6
- M2 with the DwarfLab Draco: 15 min from Bortle 6
- M2 with the Vaonis Vespera II: 10 min from Bortle 6
- M2 with the Vaonis Vespera Pro: 23 min from Bortle 6
- M2 with the Vaonis Vespera 3: 10 min from Bortle 6
- M2 with the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2: 22 min from Bortle 6
- M2 with the Unistellar eQuinox 2: 9 min from Bortle 6
- M2 with the Unistellar Odyssey: 40 min from Bortle 6
- M2 with the Celestron Origin: 5 min from Bortle 6
- M2 with the Celestron Origin Mark II: 5 min from Bortle 6