How long to image the M54 with the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2
From a Bortle 6 suburban sky, the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2 needs about 1 h 01 min (364 subs of 10 s) for a solid image of the M54. A quick look takes 15 min; a showpiece 4 h 02 min. Under a Bortle 3 rural sky the solid figure drops to 28 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 12% 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 | 6 min38 subs | 25 min151 subs | 1 h 41 min604 subs |
| Bortle 2Typical dark site | 7 min40 subs | 26 min158 subs | 1 h 45 min630 subs |
| Bortle 3Rural | 7 min43 subs | 28 min170 subs | 1 h 53 min680 subs |
| Bortle 4Rural / suburban transition | 8 min50 subs | 33 min200 subs | 2 h 13 min799 subs |
| Bortle 5Suburban | 10 min62 subs | 41 min247 subs | 2 h 45 min988 subs |
| Bortle 6Bright suburban | 15 min91 subs | 1 h 01 min364 subs | 4 h 02 min1,453 subs |
| Bortle 7Suburban / urban transition | 24 min147 subs | 1 h 37 min585 subs | 6 h 30 min2,338 subs |
| Bortle 8City | 39 min233 subs | 2 h 35 min929 subs | 10 h3,713 subs |
| Bortle 9Inner city | 1 h 09 min416 subs | 4 h 37 min1,661 subs | 18 h6,644 subs |
Power and kit for this session
Allowing for slewing, focusing and rejected subs, that is about 1 h 19 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 M54 is 12′ across. The Vespera Pro 2 frames 1.65° × 1.65° at 1.68″ per pixel, so it fills 12% 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 | 28 min170 subs | 41 min247 subs | 1 h 37 min585 subs |
| 20 s | 24 min74 subs | 37 min112 subs | 1 h 34 min281 subs |
| 30 s | 23 min47 subs | 36 min72 subs | 1 h 32 min185 subs |
About the M54
A globular that actually belongs to the Sagittarius Dwarf galaxy being eaten by the Milky Way. Low from the north.
NGC 6715 · Globular cluster in Sagittarius · magnitude 7.6 · 12′ · best in Jun, Jul, Aug. 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 M54 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
- M54 with the ZWO Seestar S50: 28 min from Bortle 6
- M54 with the ZWO Seestar S50 Pro: 31 min from Bortle 6
- M54 with the ZWO Seestar S30: 30 min from Bortle 6
- M54 with the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro: 33 min from Bortle 6
- M54 with the DwarfLab DWARF 3: 42 min from Bortle 6
- M54 with the DwarfLab DWARF mini: 28 min from Bortle 6
- M54 with the DwarfLab Draco: 23 min from Bortle 6
- M54 with the DwarfLab DWARF II: 1 h 36 min from Bortle 6
- M54 with the Vaonis Vespera II: 28 min from Bortle 6
- M54 with the Vaonis Vespera Pro: 1 h 03 min from Bortle 6
- M54 with the Vaonis Vespera 3: 27 min from Bortle 6
- M54 with the Unistellar eQuinox 2: 25 min from Bortle 6
- M54 with the Unistellar Odyssey: 1 h 55 min from Bortle 6
- M54 with the Celestron Origin: 8 min from Bortle 6
- M54 with the Celestron Origin Mark II: 10 min from Bortle 6
All telescopes for the M54 · All targets for the Vespera Pro 2