How long should I image the M86 with the Vespera 3 from a Bortle 6 sky?

About 1 h 23 min of total integration for a solid image, or 5 h 33 min for a showpiece. A quick look takes 21 min.

How many subs is that on the Vespera 3?

At the default 10 s sub length, 501 subs for a solid image from Bortle 6 and 201 from Bortle 3.

Does a dual-band filter help on the M86?

No. The M86 is a broadband target and a dual-band filter blocks most of its light. Shoot without a filter.

How long to image the M86 with the Vaonis Vespera 3

From a Bortle 6 suburban sky, the Vaonis Vespera 3 needs about 1 h 23 min (501 subs of 10 s) for a solid image of the M86. A quick look takes 21 min; a showpiece 5 h 33 min. Under a Bortle 3 rural sky the solid figure drops to 33 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 10% of the frame’s short side.

M86 with the Vaonis Vespera 3: 10 s subs.
Sky	Quick lookTarget obvious, still noisy	SolidClean enough to share	ShowpieceSmooth faint detail, print-worthy
Bortle 1Excellent dark site	7 min43 subs	29 min172 subs	1 h 54 min686 subs
Bortle 2Typical dark site	8 min46 subs	30 min182 subs	2 h 01 min726 subs
Bortle 3Rural	8 min51 subs	33 min201 subs	2 h 14 min803 subs
Bortle 4Rural / suburban transition	10 min62 subs	41 min247 subs	2 h 45 min988 subs
Bortle 5Suburban	13 min81 subs	53 min321 subs	3 h 33 min1,281 subs
Bortle 6Bright suburban	21 min126 subs	1 h 23 min501 subs	5 h 33 min2,001 subs
Bortle 7Suburban / urban transition	35 min211 subs	2 h 21 min844 subs	9 h 22 min3,373 subs
Bortle 8City	57 min344 subs	3 h 49 min1,376 subs	15 h5,504 subs
Bortle 9Inner city	1 h 45 min628 subs	6 h 59 min2,512 subs	28 h10,047 subs

Adjust in the calculator

Power and kit for this session

Allowing for slewing, focusing and rejected subs, that is about 1 h 48 min of run time. The Vespera 3’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 30WVaonis says an external bank extends sessions; 30 W PD as for the II and Pro.
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How it frames

The M86 is 9′ × 6′ across. The Vespera 3 frames 2.60° × 1.46° at 2.44″ per pixel, so it fills 10% 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 widens the field to 4.3° × 2.4°. Time for a solid image by sub length:

Sub length	Bortle 3	Bortle 5	Bortle 7
10 s	33 min201 subs	53 min321 subs	2 h 21 min844 subs
20 s	29 min87 subs	49 min147 subs	2 h 16 min409 subs
30 s	27 min55 subs	47 min95 subs	2 h 15 min270 subs

About the M86

M84's companion in Markarian's Chain, a large elliptical falling into the Virgo cluster.

NGC 4406 · Galaxy in Virgo · magnitude 8.9 · 9′ × 6′ · best in Mar, Apr, May. 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 3

The 2026 Vespera: same 50 mm quadruplet class as the II on an 8 MP IMX585, with a 24 MP mosaic mode and 11 hours of battery. Per pixel it behaves like a Seestar S50 Pro without the built-in dual-band filter.

10 s subs by default; Expert Mode manual targets allow 1 to 30 s. Alt-azimuth only; CovalENS mosaic widens the field to 4.3° × 2.4°. Optional clip-on Vaonis filters: dual-band, light-pollution (CLS) and solar. The new optical baffle is not a substitute for a CLS filter.

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.

Where to buy the Vespera 3Vaonis store Direct Amazon UK Amazon USThe Vaonis store link is a plain link; the others are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.

Imaged the M86 with your Vespera 3? Did the solid figure match?Anonymous, one tap. It is how the model gets calibrated.

Have an image of the M86 from a Vespera 3? Email it with your total time and sky to [email protected] and it goes here, credited.

Same target, other telescopes

All telescopes for the M86 · All targets for the Vespera 3