How long to image the M30 with the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2
From a Bortle 6 suburban sky, the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2 needs about 25 min (150 subs of 10 s) for a solid image of the M30. A quick look takes 6 min; a showpiece 1 h 39 min. Under a Bortle 3 rural sky the solid figure drops to 13 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 11% 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 | 3 min18 subs | 12 min71 subs | 47 min284 subs |
| Bortle 2Typical dark site | 3 min19 subs | 12 min74 subs | 49 min294 subs |
| Bortle 3Rural | 3 min20 subs | 13 min78 subs | 52 min312 subs |
| Bortle 4Rural / suburban transition | 4 min23 subs | 15 min89 subs | 59 min356 subs |
| Bortle 5Suburban | 4 min27 subs | 18 min107 subs | 1 h 11 min426 subs |
| Bortle 6Bright suburban | 6 min38 subs | 25 min150 subs | 1 h 39 min597 subs |
| Bortle 7Suburban / urban transition | 10 min58 subs | 38 min231 subs | 2 h 34 min923 subs |
| Bortle 8City | 15 min90 subs | 1 h358 subs | 3 h 58 min1,430 subs |
| Bortle 9Inner city | 26 min157 subs | 1 h 45 min628 subs | 6 h 58 min2,511 subs |
Power and kit for this session
Allowing for slewing, focusing and rejected subs, that is about 32 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 M30 is 11′ across. The Vespera Pro 2 frames 1.65° × 1.65° at 1.68″ per pixel, so it fills 11% 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 | 13 min78 subs | 18 min107 subs | 38 min231 subs |
| 20 s | 12 min35 subs | 16 min49 subs | 37 min112 subs |
| 30 s | 15 min30 subs | 16 min32 subs | 37 min74 subs |
About the M30
A core-collapsed globular in Capricornus with a couple of bright star chains. Low but doable from the north.
NGC 7099 · Globular cluster in Capricornus · magnitude 7.2 · 11′ · 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 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 M30 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
- M30 with the ZWO Seestar S50: 12 min from Bortle 6
- M30 with the ZWO Seestar S50 Pro: 13 min from Bortle 6
- M30 with the ZWO Seestar S30: 12 min from Bortle 6
- M30 with the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro: 14 min from Bortle 6
- M30 with the DwarfLab DWARF 3: 17 min from Bortle 6
- M30 with the DwarfLab DWARF mini: 12 min from Bortle 6
- M30 with the DwarfLab Draco: 15 min from Bortle 6
- M30 with the DwarfLab DWARF II: 39 min from Bortle 6
- M30 with the Vaonis Vespera II: 12 min from Bortle 6
- M30 with the Vaonis Vespera Pro: 26 min from Bortle 6
- M30 with the Vaonis Vespera 3: 11 min from Bortle 6
- M30 with the Unistellar eQuinox 2: 10 min from Bortle 6
- M30 with the Unistellar Odyssey: 45 min from Bortle 6
- M30 with the Celestron Origin: 5 min from Bortle 6
- M30 with the Celestron Origin Mark II: 5 min from Bortle 6
All telescopes for the M30 · All targets for the Vespera Pro 2