How Many Subs

Sagittarius Star Cloud

M24, IC 4715 · Star cloud in Sagittarius

Magnitude
4.6
Size
90′
Effective surface brightness
20.8 mag/arcsec²
Best months
Jun, Jul, Aug
Declination
-19°
Filter
None (broadband target)

A window through the dust into the inner Milky Way, densely packed with stars. Short stacks are enough; it is stars, not nebulosity.

Reachable from mid-northern latitudes (UK, northern US, central Europe) and from the south.

How long with each smart telescope

Total integration for a solid image of the Sagittarius Star Cloud, default sub length, recommended filter, and how much of each frame it fills. Click a cell for the full Bortle 1 to 9 table.
TelescopeIn frameBortle 3 (rural)Bortle 5 (suburban)Bortle 7 (urban edge)
ZWO Seestar S5010 s subs2.1× frame5 min30 subs6 min37 subs14 min84 subs
ZWO Seestar S50 Pro10 s subs1.1× frame5 min30 subs7 min41 subs15 min91 subs
ZWO Seestar S3010 s subs1.3× frame5 min30 subs7 min40 subs14 min86 subs
ZWO Seestar S30 Pro10 s subs67%5 min31 subs7 min44 subs16 min96 subs
DwarfLab DWARF 315 s subsOnly just8 min30 subs9 min36 subs21 min84 subs
DwarfLab DWARF mini15 s subs1.3× frame8 min30 subs8 min30 subs14 min56 subs
DwarfLab Draco30 s subs1.2× frame15 min30 subs15 min30 subs15 min30 subs
DwarfLab DWARF II15 s subs84%17 min68 subs22 min88 subs43 min174 subs
Vaonis Vespera II10 s subs1.0× frame5 min30 subs6 min37 subs14 min84 subs
Vaonis Vespera Pro10 s subsOnly just10 min62 subs14 min84 subs30 min182 subs
Vaonis Vespera 310 s subs1.0× frame5 min30 subs6 min36 subs13 min80 subs
Vaonis Vespera Pro 210 s subsOnly just10 min59 subs13 min80 subs29 min174 subs
Unistellar eQuinox 24 s subs2.6× frame5 min72 subs6 min89 subs11 min161 subs
Unistellar Odyssey4 s subs2.7× frame24 min359 subs28 min419 subs45 min683 subs
Celestron Origin10 s subs1.8× frame5 min30 subs5 min30 subs5 min30 subs
Celestron Origin Mark II10 s subs2.0× frame5 min30 subs5 min30 subs5 min33 subs

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Imaging the star cloud

Star clouds are dense fields of ordinary stars rather than nebulosity. Short subs, no filter, and a modest total keep the field from saturating while still showing the depth of the Milky Way.

Per-telescope pages