How long to image the Carina Nebula with the DwarfLab DWARF II
From a Bortle 6 suburban sky, the DwarfLab DWARF II needs about 41 min (163 subs of 15 s) for a solid image of the Carina Nebula. A quick look takes 10 min; a showpiece 2 h 43 min. Under a Bortle 3 rural sky the solid figure drops to 23 min. At Bortle 6 the limit is a mix of skyglow and read noise. In this scope's field it is just over the frame at 1.1×.
| Sky | Quick lookTarget obvious, still noisy | SolidClean enough to share | ShowpieceSmooth faint detail, print-worthy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bortle 1Excellent dark site | 5 min22 subs | 21 min85 subs | 1 h 25 min339 subs |
| Bortle 2Typical dark site | 5 min22 subs | 22 min87 subs | 1 h 27 min348 subs |
| Bortle 3Rural | 6 min23 subs | 23 min92 subs | 1 h 32 min367 subs |
| Bortle 4Rural / suburban transition | 6 min26 subs | 26 min103 subs | 1 h 42 min410 subs |
| Bortle 5Suburban | 7 min30 subs | 30 min120 subs | 2 h480 subs |
| Bortle 6Bright suburban | 10 min41 subs | 41 min163 subs | 2 h 43 min651 subs |
| Bortle 7Suburban / urban transition | 15 min62 subs | 1 h 01 min245 subs | 4 h 04 min977 subs |
| Bortle 8City | 23 min93 subs | 1 h 33 min371 subs | 6 h 11 min1,483 subs |
| Bortle 9Inner city | 40 min161 subs | 2 h 40 min641 subs | 11 h2,562 subs |
Power and kit for this session
Allowing for slewing, focusing and rejected subs, that is about 53 min of run time. The DWARF II’s battery (rated about 3 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 10000mAh 18W18 W PD input; runs while charging.
- 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 DWARF II →
How it frames
The Carina Nebula is 120′ across. The DWARF II frames 3.19° × 1.79° at 2.99″ per pixel, so it is just over the frame at 1.1×. Point at the part you want; the edges will fall outside the frame.
Filters
The Carina Nebula is an emission target, where a dual-band filter would normally cut the time several-fold from a lit sky, but the DWARF II has no dual-band option: Two built-in filters, VIS and Astro (IR-pass); no dual-band. The optional UHC filter is no longer sold. The figures above are for the Astro position, and a darker sky is the lever that remains.
About the Carina Nebula
Four times the size and brightness of the Orion Nebula, the best emission nebula in the sky. Southern hemisphere only, and easy from anywhere it rises.
NGC 3372, Caldwell 92, Eta Carinae Nebula · Emission nebula in Carina · magnitude 1.0 · 120′ · best in Feb, Mar, Apr. Low or below the horizon from northern Europe; best from the southern US southwards.
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 DwarfLab DWARF II
The original pocket scope. 24 mm aperture and tiny 1.45 µm pixels mean it is slow per pixel, so bin or downsample and be patient.
15 s is the hard maximum in any mode; DwarfLab recommends EQ mode at 15 s. Two built-in filters, VIS and Astro (IR-pass); no dual-band. The optional UHC filter is no longer sold.
The DWARF II uses fixed 15 s subs, so the only levers you have are the sky you shoot from, the filter, and total time.
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 Carina Nebula from a DWARF II? Email it with your total time and sky to [email protected] and it goes here, credited.
Same target, other telescopes
- Carina Nebula with the ZWO Seestar S50: 9 min from Bortle 6
- Carina Nebula with the ZWO Seestar S50 Pro: 10 min from Bortle 6
- Carina Nebula with the ZWO Seestar S30: 10 min from Bortle 6
- Carina Nebula with the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro: 11 min from Bortle 6
- Carina Nebula with the DwarfLab DWARF 3: 12 min from Bortle 6
- Carina Nebula with the DwarfLab DWARF mini: 9 min from Bortle 6
- Carina Nebula with the DwarfLab Draco: 15 min from Bortle 6
- Carina Nebula with the Vaonis Vespera II: 12 min from Bortle 6
- Carina Nebula with the Vaonis Vespera Pro: 27 min from Bortle 6
- Carina Nebula with the Vaonis Vespera 3: 12 min from Bortle 6
- Carina Nebula with the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2: 26 min from Bortle 6
- Carina Nebula with the Unistellar eQuinox 2: 11 min from Bortle 6
- Carina Nebula with the Unistellar Odyssey: 48 min from Bortle 6
- Carina Nebula with the Celestron Origin: 5 min from Bortle 6
- Carina Nebula with the Celestron Origin Mark II: 5 min from Bortle 6
All telescopes for the Carina Nebula · All targets for the DWARF II