How long to image the NGC 6914 with the ZWO Seestar S50
From a Bortle 6 suburban sky, the ZWO Seestar S50 needs about 6 h 04 min (2,185 subs of 10 s) for a solid image of the NGC 6914. A quick look takes 1 h 31 min; a showpiece 24 h. Under a Bortle 3 rural sky the solid figure drops to 2 h 16 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 14% 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 | 28 min171 subs | 1 h 53 min681 subs | 7 h 33 min2,721 subs |
| Bortle 2Typical dark site | 30 min182 subs | 2 h 01 min727 subs | 8 h 04 min2,906 subs |
| Bortle 3Rural | 34 min204 subs | 2 h 16 min814 subs | 9 h 03 min3,256 subs |
| Bortle 4Rural / suburban transition | 43 min257 subs | 2 h 51 min1,026 subs | 11 h4,103 subs |
| Bortle 5Suburban | 57 min341 subs | 3 h 47 min1,362 subs | 15 h5,445 subs |
| Bortle 6Bright suburban | 1 h 31 min547 subs | 6 h 04 min2,185 subs | 24 h8,739 subs |
| Bortle 7Suburban / urban transition | 2 h 36 min939 subs | 10 h3,754 subs | 42 h15,014 subs |
| Bortle 8City | 4 h 18 min1,548 subs | 17 h6,190 subs | 69 h24,758 subs |
| Bortle 9Inner city | 7 h 54 min2,847 subs | 32 h11,385 subs | 130+ h45,538 subs |
Power and kit for this session
Allowing for slewing, focusing and rejected subs, that is about 7 h 53 min of run time. That is more than one night: over 2 nights, about 3 h 57 min each. The Seestar S50’s battery (rated about 6 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 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 NGC 6914 is 6′ across. The Seestar S50 frames 1.28° × 0.72° at 2.39″ per pixel, so it fills 14% 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 | 2 h 16 min814 subs | 3 h 47 min1,362 subs | 10 h3,754 subs |
| 20 s | 1 h 54 min343 subs | 3 h 25 min617 subs | 10 h1,813 subs |
| 30 s | 1 h 47 min215 subs | 3 h 18 min397 subs | 9 h 57 min1,195 subs |
| 60 s | 1 h 40 min101 subs | 3 h 11 min192 subs | 9 h 50 min590 subs |
Leave the dual-band filter out for the NGC 6914. It is a reflection nebula, 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 NGC 6914
Blue reflection patches floating on a sea of red hydrogen in Cygnus. Broadband for the blue; dual-band would remove the point.
vdB 131/132 · Reflection nebula in Cygnus · magnitude 9.0 · 6′ · best in Jul, Aug, Sep. Reachable from mid-northern latitudes (UK, northern US, central Europe) and from the south.
Reflection nebulae are starlight scattered by dust, so they are broadband and blue. A dual-band filter removes almost all of it; do not use one. These are among the faintest structures a smart scope can attempt and the figures run long. A dark sky matters more here than for any other type, and the Moon must be down.
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 NGC 6914 from a Seestar S50? Email it with your total time and sky to [email protected] and it goes here, credited.
Same target, other telescopes
- NGC 6914 with the ZWO Seestar S50 Pro: 6 h 38 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 6914 with the ZWO Seestar S30: 6 h 23 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 6914 with the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro: 7 h 02 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 6914 with the DwarfLab DWARF 3: 8 h 48 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 6914 with the DwarfLab DWARF mini: 6 h 02 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 6914 with the DwarfLab Draco: 4 h 59 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 6914 with the DwarfLab DWARF II: 21 h from Bortle 6
- NGC 6914 with the Vaonis Vespera II: 6 h 04 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 6914 with the Vaonis Vespera Pro: 14 h from Bortle 6
- NGC 6914 with the Vaonis Vespera 3: 5 h 48 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 6914 with the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2: 13 h from Bortle 6
- NGC 6914 with the Unistellar eQuinox 2: 5 h 33 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 6914 with the Unistellar Odyssey: 26 h from Bortle 6
- NGC 6914 with the Celestron Origin: 1 h 36 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 6914 with the Celestron Origin Mark II: 2 h 12 min from Bortle 6
All telescopes for the NGC 6914 · All targets for the Seestar S50