How long should I image the Pacman Nebula with the Vespera Pro 2 from a Bortle 6 sky?

About 5 h 46 min of total integration for a solid image, or 23 h for a showpiece. A quick look takes 1 h 26 min.

How many subs is that on the Vespera Pro 2?

At the default 10 s sub length, 2,075 subs for a solid image from Bortle 6 and 845 from Bortle 3.

Does a dual-band filter help on the Pacman Nebula?

Yes. It is an emission-line object; from Bortle 6 the filter cuts the solid-image time from 5 h 46 min to 4 h 03 min.

How long to image the Pacman Nebula with the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2

From a Bortle 6 suburban sky, the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2 needs about 5 h 46 min (2,075 subs of 10 s) for a solid image of the Pacman Nebula. A quick look takes 1 h 26 min; a showpiece 23 h. Under a Bortle 3 rural sky the solid figure drops to 2 h 21 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 35% of the frame’s short side.

Pacman Nebula with the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2: 10 s subs.
Sky	Quick lookTarget obvious, still noisy	SolidClean enough to share	ShowpieceSmooth faint detail, print-worthy
Bortle 1Excellent dark site	30 min182 subs	2 h 01 min725 subs	8 h 03 min2,899 subs
Bortle 2Typical dark site	32 min192 subs	2 h 08 min767 subs	8 h 31 min3,065 subs
Bortle 3Rural	35 min212 subs	2 h 21 min845 subs	9 h 23 min3,379 subs
Bortle 4Rural / suburban transition	43 min259 subs	2 h 52 min1,035 subs	11 h4,139 subs
Bortle 5Suburban	56 min334 subs	3 h 43 min1,336 subs	15 h5,343 subs
Bortle 6Bright suburban	1 h 26 min519 subs	5 h 46 min2,075 subs	23 h8,299 subs
Bortle 7Suburban / urban transition	2 h 25 min871 subs	9 h 40 min3,483 subs	39 h13,931 subs
Bortle 8City	3 h 56 min1,418 subs	16 h5,669 subs	63 h22,675 subs
Bortle 9Inner city	7 h 10 min2,583 subs	29 h10,331 subs	110+ h41,324 subs

Adjust in the calculator

Power and kit for this session

Allowing for slewing, focusing and rejected subs, that is about 7 h 30 min of run time. That is more than one night: over 2 nights, about 3 h 45 min each. The Vespera Pro 2’s battery (rated about 11 h) should cover each night; 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.
Amazon UK Amazon US
red LED head torchRed light keeps your night vision; white light costs you twenty minutes of dark adaptation every time.
Amazon UK Amazon US

Affiliate links: the retailer pays us a small commission and you pay the same price. These are search links to the named product, not endorsements of a particular listing; check the listing matches your model.

Everything that fits the Vespera Pro 2 →

How it frames

The Pacman Nebula is 35′ × 30′ across. The Vespera Pro 2 frames 1.65° × 1.65° at 1.68″ per pixel, so it fills 35% 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	2 h 21 min845 subs	3 h 43 min1,336 subs	9 h 40 min3,483 subs
20 s	1 h 56 min348 subs	3 h 18 min594 subs	9 h 16 min1,667 subs
30 s	1 h 48 min216 subs	3 h 10 min380 subs	9 h 07 min1,095 subs

With and without the dual-band filter

Solid quality, default sub length.
Filter	Bortle 3	Bortle 5	Bortle 7
No filter	2 h 21 min845 subs	3 h 43 min1,336 subs	9 h 40 min3,483 subs
dual-band (Dual Band filter), clip-on	3 h1,081 subs	3 h 25 min1,232 subs	5 h 15 min1,889 subs

The Vespera Pro 2 has no built-in dual-band filter. Optional clip-on Vaonis filters: dual-band, light-pollution (CLS) and solar. On an emission target like this it is the single biggest upgrade you can make.

About the Pacman Nebula

A bright emission nebula with a dark lane biting into it. Compact, bright, and excellent with a dual-band filter from suburban skies.

NGC 281 · Emission nebula in Cassiopeia · magnitude 7.4 · 35′ × 30′ · best in Sep, Oct, Nov. Reachable from mid-northern latitudes (UK, northern US, central Europe) and from the south.

Emission nebulae glow in a few narrow lines, mostly hydrogen-alpha (deep red) and doubly ionised oxygen (teal). A dual-band filter passes those lines and blocks most skyglow, which is why it cuts the time needed from a suburban sky so dramatically. Use it. From a genuinely dark site the gain is smaller because there is less skyglow to block, and read noise becomes the limit, which is where longer subs (EQ mode, or Expert Mode on a Vespera) earn their keep.

Stars lose colour through a dual-band filter; a short broadband stack blended in fixes that if you care.

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.

Where to buy the Vespera Pro 2Vaonis 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 Pacman Nebula with your Vespera Pro 2? Did the solid figure match?Anonymous, one tap. It is how the model gets calibrated.

Have an image of the Pacman Nebula 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

All telescopes for the Pacman Nebula · All targets for the Vespera Pro 2