How long to image the Centaurus A with the ZWO Seestar S50
From a Bortle 6 suburban sky, the ZWO Seestar S50 needs about 41 min (247 subs of 10 s) for a solid image of the Centaurus A. A quick look takes 10 min; a showpiece 2 h 44 min. Under a Bortle 3 rural sky the solid figure drops to 17 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 60% 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 | 4 min22 subs | 15 min88 subs | 58 min351 subs |
| Bortle 2Typical dark site | 4 min24 subs | 15 min93 subs | 1 h 02 min371 subs |
| Bortle 3Rural | 4 min26 subs | 17 min102 subs | 1 h 08 min407 subs |
| Bortle 4Rural / suburban transition | 5 min32 subs | 21 min125 subs | 1 h 23 min497 subs |
| Bortle 5Suburban | 7 min40 subs | 27 min160 subs | 1 h 46 min638 subs |
| Bortle 6Bright suburban | 10 min62 subs | 41 min247 subs | 2 h 44 min985 subs |
| Bortle 7Suburban / urban transition | 17 min103 subs | 1 h 09 min412 subs | 4 h 34 min1,646 subs |
| Bortle 8City | 28 min168 subs | 1 h 51 min669 subs | 7 h 25 min2,673 subs |
| Bortle 9Inner city | 51 min304 subs | 3 h 23 min1,216 subs | 14 h4,862 subs |
Power and kit for this session
Allowing for slewing, focusing and rejected subs, that is about 53 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 Centaurus A is 26′ × 20′ across. The Seestar S50 frames 1.28° × 0.72° at 2.39″ per pixel, so it fills 60% 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 | 17 min102 subs | 27 min160 subs | 1 h 09 min412 subs |
| 20 s | 15 min45 subs | 24 min73 subs | 1 h 06 min199 subs |
| 30 s | 15 min30 subs | 24 min48 subs | 1 h 06 min132 subs |
| 60 s | 30 min30 subs | 30 min30 subs | 1 h 05 min65 subs |
Leave the dual-band filter out for the Centaurus A. 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 Centaurus A
A giant elliptical with a thick dust band across it, the brightest radio galaxy in the sky. A southern-hemisphere showpiece.
NGC 5128, Caldwell 77 · Galaxy in Centaurus · magnitude 6.8 · 26′ × 20′ · best in Mar, Apr, May. Low or below the horizon from northern Europe; best from the southern US southwards.
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 Centaurus A from a Seestar S50? Email it with your total time and sky to [email protected] and it goes here, credited.
Same target, other telescopes
- Centaurus A with the ZWO Seestar S50 Pro: 45 min from Bortle 6
- Centaurus A with the ZWO Seestar S30: 43 min from Bortle 6
- Centaurus A with the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro: 48 min from Bortle 6
- Centaurus A with the DwarfLab DWARF 3: 1 h from Bortle 6
- Centaurus A with the DwarfLab DWARF mini: 41 min from Bortle 6
- Centaurus A with the DwarfLab Draco: 34 min from Bortle 6
- Centaurus A with the DwarfLab DWARF II: 2 h 19 min from Bortle 6
- Centaurus A with the Vaonis Vespera II: 41 min from Bortle 6
- Centaurus A with the Vaonis Vespera Pro: 1 h 32 min from Bortle 6
- Centaurus A with the Vaonis Vespera 3: 39 min from Bortle 6
- Centaurus A with the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2: 1 h 27 min from Bortle 6
- Centaurus A with the Unistellar eQuinox 2: 37 min from Bortle 6
- Centaurus A with the Unistellar Odyssey: 2 h 49 min from Bortle 6
- Centaurus A with the Celestron Origin: 11 min from Bortle 6
- Centaurus A with the Celestron Origin Mark II: 15 min from Bortle 6
All telescopes for the Centaurus A · All targets for the Seestar S50