How long to image the Omega Centauri with the DwarfLab DWARF II
From a Bortle 6 suburban sky, the DwarfLab DWARF II needs about 8 min (30 subs of 15 s) for a solid image of the Omega Centauri. A quick look takes 3 min; a showpiece 27 min. Under a Bortle 3 rural sky the solid figure drops to 8 min. At Bortle 6 the limit is a mix of skyglow and read noise. In this scope's field it fills 33% 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 | 3 min10 subs | 8 min30 subs | 23 min90 subs |
| Bortle 2Typical dark site | 3 min10 subs | 8 min30 subs | 23 min90 subs |
| Bortle 3Rural | 3 min10 subs | 8 min30 subs | 23 min90 subs |
| Bortle 4Rural / suburban transition | 3 min10 subs | 8 min30 subs | 23 min90 subs |
| Bortle 5Suburban | 3 min10 subs | 8 min30 subs | 23 min90 subs |
| Bortle 6Bright suburban | 3 min10 subs | 8 min30 subs | 27 min107 subs |
| Bortle 7Suburban / urban transition | 3 min10 subs | 9 min37 subs | 37 min147 subs |
| Bortle 8City | 3 min14 subs | 13 min53 subs | 52 min209 subs |
| Bortle 9Inner city | 5 min22 subs | 21 min86 subs | 1 h 25 min341 subs |
Power and kit for this session
Allowing for slewing, focusing and rejected subs, that is about 10 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 Omega Centauri is 36′ across. The DWARF II frames 3.19° × 1.79° at 2.99″ per pixel, so it fills 33% of the frame’s short side.
About the Omega Centauri
The largest and brightest globular in the sky, ten million stars. Trivially easy from the southern hemisphere, invisible from the UK.
NGC 5139, Caldwell 80 · Globular cluster in Centaurus · magnitude 3.7 · 36′ · best in Mar, Apr, May. Low or below the horizon from northern Europe; best from the southern US southwards.
Globular clusters are point sources packed tight, so they come quickly: the core resolves into stars within a handful of minutes on any smart scope. More time deepens the halo and pulls in the faint outer members. Use short subs so the core does not saturate into a white blob, and no filter.
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 Omega Centauri from a DWARF II? Email it with your total time and sky to [email protected] and it goes here, credited.
Same target, other telescopes
- Omega Centauri with the ZWO Seestar S50: 5 min from Bortle 6
- Omega Centauri with the ZWO Seestar S50 Pro: 5 min from Bortle 6
- Omega Centauri with the ZWO Seestar S30: 5 min from Bortle 6
- Omega Centauri with the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro: 5 min from Bortle 6
- Omega Centauri with the DwarfLab DWARF 3: 8 min from Bortle 6
- Omega Centauri with the DwarfLab DWARF mini: 8 min from Bortle 6
- Omega Centauri with the DwarfLab Draco: 15 min from Bortle 6
- Omega Centauri with the Vaonis Vespera II: 5 min from Bortle 6
- Omega Centauri with the Vaonis Vespera Pro: 5 min from Bortle 6
- Omega Centauri with the Vaonis Vespera 3: 5 min from Bortle 6
- Omega Centauri with the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2: 5 min from Bortle 6
- Omega Centauri with the Unistellar eQuinox 2: 2 min from Bortle 6
- Omega Centauri with the Unistellar Odyssey: 7 min from Bortle 6
- Omega Centauri with the Celestron Origin: 5 min from Bortle 6
- Omega Centauri with the Celestron Origin Mark II: 5 min from Bortle 6
All telescopes for the Omega Centauri · All targets for the DWARF II