How long to image the M32 with the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2
From a Bortle 6 suburban sky, the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2 needs about 43 min (261 subs of 10 s) for a solid image of the M32. A quick look takes 11 min; a showpiece 2 h 53 min. Under a Bortle 3 rural sky the solid figure drops to 22 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 8% 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 min30 subs | 20 min120 subs | 1 h 20 min478 subs |
| Bortle 2Typical dark site | 5 min31 subs | 21 min124 subs | 1 h 22 min495 subs |
| Bortle 3Rural | 5 min33 subs | 22 min132 subs | 1 h 28 min528 subs |
| Bortle 4Rural / suburban transition | 6 min38 subs | 25 min152 subs | 1 h 41 min607 subs |
| Bortle 5Suburban | 8 min46 subs | 31 min184 subs | 2 h 02 min733 subs |
| Bortle 6Bright suburban | 11 min66 subs | 43 min261 subs | 2 h 53 min1,041 subs |
| Bortle 7Suburban / urban transition | 17 min102 subs | 1 h 08 min407 subs | 4 h 31 min1,628 subs |
| Bortle 8City | 26 min159 subs | 1 h 46 min635 subs | 7 h 03 min2,540 subs |
| Bortle 9Inner city | 47 min281 subs | 3 h 07 min1,122 subs | 12 h4,485 subs |
Power and kit for this session
Allowing for slewing, focusing and rejected subs, that is about 56 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 M32 is 8′ × 6′ across. The Vespera Pro 2 frames 1.65° × 1.65° at 1.68″ per pixel, so it fills 8% 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 | 22 min132 subs | 31 min184 subs | 1 h 08 min407 subs |
| 20 s | 19 min59 subs | 28 min84 subs | 1 h 05 min196 subs |
| 30 s | 19 min38 subs | 27 min55 subs | 1 h 04 min129 subs |
About the M32
The compact elliptical companion of Andromeda, sitting on its disc. Appears in every M31 frame.
NGC 221 · Galaxy in Andromeda · magnitude 8.1 · 8′ × 6′ · best in Sep, Oct, Nov. 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 M32 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
- M32 with the ZWO Seestar S50: 20 min from Bortle 6
- M32 with the ZWO Seestar S50 Pro: 22 min from Bortle 6
- M32 with the ZWO Seestar S30: 21 min from Bortle 6
- M32 with the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro: 24 min from Bortle 6
- M32 with the DwarfLab DWARF 3: 30 min from Bortle 6
- M32 with the DwarfLab DWARF mini: 20 min from Bortle 6
- M32 with the DwarfLab Draco: 17 min from Bortle 6
- M32 with the DwarfLab DWARF II: 1 h 08 min from Bortle 6
- M32 with the Vaonis Vespera II: 20 min from Bortle 6
- M32 with the Vaonis Vespera Pro: 45 min from Bortle 6
- M32 with the Vaonis Vespera 3: 20 min from Bortle 6
- M32 with the Unistellar eQuinox 2: 18 min from Bortle 6
- M32 with the Unistellar Odyssey: 1 h 20 min from Bortle 6
- M32 with the Celestron Origin: 5 min from Bortle 6
- M32 with the Celestron Origin Mark II: 8 min from Bortle 6
All telescopes for the M32 · All targets for the Vespera Pro 2