How long to image the M96 with the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2
From a Bortle 6 suburban sky, the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2 needs about 3 h 26 min (1,235 subs of 10 s) for a solid image of the M96. A quick look takes 51 min; a showpiece 14 h. Under a Bortle 3 rural sky the solid figure drops to 1 h 30 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 | 20 min119 subs | 1 h 19 min473 subs | 5 h 15 min1,891 subs |
| Bortle 2Typical dark site | 21 min125 subs | 1 h 23 min497 subs | 5 h 31 min1,985 subs |
| Bortle 3Rural | 23 min136 subs | 1 h 30 min541 subs | 6 h2,162 subs |
| Bortle 4Rural / suburban transition | 27 min162 subs | 1 h 48 min648 subs | 7 h 12 min2,591 subs |
| Bortle 5Suburban | 34 min205 subs | 2 h 16 min818 subs | 9 h 05 min3,271 subs |
| Bortle 6Bright suburban | 51 min309 subs | 3 h 26 min1,235 subs | 14 h4,939 subs |
| Bortle 7Suburban / urban transition | 1 h 25 min508 subs | 5 h 38 min2,030 subs | 23 h8,119 subs |
| Bortle 8City | 2 h 16 min816 subs | 9 h 04 min3,264 subs | 36 h13,055 subs |
| Bortle 9Inner city | 4 h 06 min1,474 subs | 16 h5,896 subs | 66 h23,583 subs |
Power and kit for this session
Allowing for slewing, focusing and rejected subs, that is about 4 h 28 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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How it frames
The M96 is 7.6′ × 5.2′ 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 | 1 h 30 min541 subs | 2 h 16 min818 subs | 5 h 38 min2,030 subs |
| 20 s | 1 h 16 min229 subs | 2 h 02 min367 subs | 5 h 24 min973 subs |
| 30 s | 1 h 11 min143 subs | 1 h 58 min236 subs | 5 h 20 min640 subs |
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 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 M96 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
- M96 with the ZWO Seestar S50: 1 h 37 min from Bortle 6
- 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 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 Vespera Pro 2