How long to image the M96 with the ZWO Seestar S50
From a Bortle 6 suburban sky, the ZWO Seestar S50 needs about 1 h 37 min (580 subs of 10 s) for a solid image of the M96. A quick look takes 24 min; a showpiece 6 h 26 min. Under a Bortle 3 rural sky the solid figure drops to 39 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 18% 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 | 8 min51 subs | 34 min203 subs | 2 h 15 min809 subs |
| Bortle 2Typical dark site | 9 min54 subs | 36 min214 subs | 2 h 22 min855 subs |
| Bortle 3Rural | 10 min59 subs | 39 min236 subs | 2 h 37 min943 subs |
| Bortle 4Rural / suburban transition | 12 min73 subs | 48 min289 subs | 3 h 13 min1,156 subs |
| Bortle 5Suburban | 16 min94 subs | 1 h 02 min373 subs | 4 h 09 min1,492 subs |
| Bortle 6Bright suburban | 24 min145 subs | 1 h 37 min580 subs | 6 h 26 min2,319 subs |
| Bortle 7Suburban / urban transition | 41 min244 subs | 2 h 42 min974 subs | 11 h3,893 subs |
| Bortle 8City | 1 h 06 min397 subs | 4 h 24 min1,585 subs | 18 h6,338 subs |
| Bortle 9Inner city | 2 h722 subs | 8 h 01 min2,888 subs | 32 h11,552 subs |
Power and kit for this session
Allowing for slewing, focusing and rejected subs, that is about 2 h 06 min of run time. The Seestar S50’s battery (rated about 6 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 power bank 20000mAh 5V 3AThe S50 draws 5 V 3 A over USB-C and runs while charging; no PD needed.
- Seestar S50 dew shieldThe built-in heater copes with most nights; a shield helps in heavy dew and blocks stray light.
- 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 Seestar S50 →
How it frames
The M96 is 7.6′ × 5.2′ across. The Seestar S50 frames 1.28° × 0.72° at 2.39″ per pixel, so it fills 18% of the frame’s short side.
Longer subs
10, 20 and 30 s in Alt-Az; 60 s only in EQ mode (app 2.5 and later). Time for a solid image by sub length:
| Sub length | Bortle 3 | Bortle 5 | Bortle 7 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 s | 39 min236 subs | 1 h 02 min373 subs | 2 h 42 min974 subs |
| 20 s | 34 min102 subs | 57 min171 subs | 2 h 37 min471 subs |
| 30 s | 32 min65 subs | 55 min111 subs | 2 h 35 min311 subs |
| 60 s | 30 min31 subs | 53 min54 subs | 2 h 33 min154 subs |
Leave the dual-band filter out for the M96. It is a galaxy, and it shines right across the spectrum. A dual-band filter keeps two emission lines and throws the rest away, so most of the light you came for is being stopped along with the sky. From a Bortle 6 sky it would be roughly 12 times slower.
About the M96
The brightest of the M95/M96/M105 group, a slightly asymmetric spiral.
NGC 3368 · Galaxy in Leo · magnitude 9.2 · 7.6′ × 5.2′ · best in Feb, Mar, Apr. 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 ZWO Seestar S50
The scope that made smart astrophotography mainstream. 50 mm triplet, 2 MP sensor, dual-band filter on a wheel. Alt-Az stacking at 10 s, EQ mode unlocks 60 s. Out of production since 2026 and replaced by the S50 Pro, but there are a great many in use.
10, 20 and 30 s in Alt-Az; 60 s only in EQ mode (app 2.5 and later). Built-in dual-band light-pollution filter, switchable in the app.
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 60 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 M96 from a Seestar S50? Email it with your total time and sky to [email protected] and it goes here, credited.
Same target, other telescopes
- M96 with the ZWO Seestar S50 Pro: 1 h 46 min from Bortle 6
- M96 with the ZWO Seestar S30: 1 h 41 min from Bortle 6
- M96 with the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro: 1 h 52 min from Bortle 6
- M96 with the DwarfLab DWARF 3: 2 h 21 min from Bortle 6
- M96 with the DwarfLab DWARF mini: 1 h 36 min from Bortle 6
- M96 with the DwarfLab Draco: 1 h 19 min from Bortle 6
- M96 with the DwarfLab DWARF II: 5 h 29 min from Bortle 6
- M96 with the Vaonis Vespera II: 1 h 37 min from Bortle 6
- M96 with the Vaonis Vespera Pro: 3 h 36 min from Bortle 6
- M96 with the Vaonis Vespera 3: 1 h 32 min from Bortle 6
- M96 with the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2: 3 h 26 min from Bortle 6
- M96 with the Unistellar eQuinox 2: 1 h 27 min from Bortle 6
- M96 with the Unistellar Odyssey: 6 h 39 min from Bortle 6
- M96 with the Celestron Origin: 26 min from Bortle 6
- M96 with the Celestron Origin Mark II: 35 min from Bortle 6
All telescopes for the M96 · All targets for the Seestar S50