How long to image the Carina Nebula with the DwarfLab DWARF 3
From a Bortle 6 suburban sky, the DwarfLab DWARF 3 needs about 12 min (50 subs of 15 s with the built-in dual-band filter) for a solid image of the Carina Nebula. A quick look takes 3 min; a showpiece 49 min. Under a Bortle 3 rural sky the solid figure drops to 9 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 1.2×.
| Sky | Quick lookTarget obvious, still noisy | SolidClean enough to share | ShowpieceSmooth faint detail, print-worthy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bortle 1Excellent dark site | 3 min10 subs | 9 min36 subs | 36 min144 subs |
| Bortle 2Typical dark site | 3 min10 subs | 9 min37 subs | 36 min146 subs |
| Bortle 3Rural | 3 min10 subs | 9 min38 subs | 37 min149 subs |
| Bortle 4Rural / suburban transition | 3 min10 subs | 10 min40 subs | 39 min157 subs |
| Bortle 5Suburban | 3 min11 subs | 10 min42 subs | 42 min168 subs |
| Bortle 6Bright suburban | 3 min13 subs | 12 min50 subs | 49 min198 subs |
| Bortle 7Suburban / urban transition | 4 min16 subs | 16 min64 subs | 1 h 03 min253 subs |
| Bortle 8City | 5 min22 subs | 21 min85 subs | 1 h 25 min339 subs |
| Bortle 9Inner city | 8 min33 subs | 33 min131 subs | 2 h 11 min523 subs |
Power and kit for this session
Allowing for slewing, focusing and rejected subs, that is about 16 min of run time. The DWARF 3’s battery (rated about 5 h 30 min) 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 18W18 W PD input and it runs while charging; needs a C-to-C cable for PD.
- 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 3 →
How it frames
The Carina Nebula is 120′ across. The DWARF 3 frames 2.93° × 1.65° at 2.75″ per pixel, so it is just over the frame at 1.2×. Point at the part you want; the edges will fall outside the frame.
Longer subs
Auto mode caps subs at 15 s; 30 s and longer need EQ mode, and 60 s is the ceiling on the tele camera. Time for a solid image by sub length:
| Sub length | Bortle 3 | Bortle 5 | Bortle 7 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 s | 9 min38 subs | 10 min42 subs | 16 min64 subs |
| 30 s | 15 min30 subs | 15 min30 subs | 15 min31 subs |
| 60 s | 30 min30 subs | 30 min30 subs | 30 min30 subs |
With and without the dual-band filter
| Filter | Bortle 3 | Bortle 5 | Bortle 7 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Astro (no light-pollution filter) | 8 min33 subs | 12 min48 subs | 29 min117 subs |
| dual-band | 9 min38 subs | 10 min42 subs | 16 min64 subs |
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 3
Small pixels on a 35 mm f/4.3 lens give a sharper image than its aperture suggests, and EQ mode with 60 s subs makes it the read-noise winner in dark skies.
Auto mode caps subs at 15 s; 30 s and longer need EQ mode, and 60 s is the ceiling on the tele camera. Three built-in filters: VIS, Astro (430 to 690 nm) and dual-band Hα 656 nm / OIII 501 nm.
Longer subs matter most under dark skies, where read noise rather than skyglow sets the floor. From a city the difference between 15 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 Carina Nebula from a DWARF 3? 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 mini: 9 min from Bortle 6
- Carina Nebula with the DwarfLab Draco: 15 min from Bortle 6
- Carina Nebula with the DwarfLab DWARF II: 41 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 3