How long to image the North America Nebula with the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2
From a Bortle 6 suburban sky, the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2 needs about 4 h 49 min (1,736 subs of 10 s) for a solid image of the North America Nebula. A quick look takes 1 h 12 min; a showpiece 19 h. Under a Bortle 3 rural sky the solid figure drops to 1 h 59 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 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 | 26 min154 subs | 1 h 42 min614 subs | 6 h 49 min2,453 subs |
| Bortle 2Typical dark site | 27 min162 subs | 1 h 48 min648 subs | 7 h 12 min2,591 subs |
| Bortle 3Rural | 30 min179 subs | 1 h 59 min713 subs | 7 h 55 min2,852 subs |
| Bortle 4Rural / suburban transition | 36 min218 subs | 2 h 25 min871 subs | 9 h 41 min3,484 subs |
| Bortle 5Suburban | 47 min281 subs | 3 h 07 min1,122 subs | 12 h4,486 subs |
| Bortle 6Bright suburban | 1 h 12 min434 subs | 4 h 49 min1,736 subs | 19 h6,944 subs |
| Bortle 7Suburban / urban transition | 2 h 01 min727 subs | 8 h 05 min2,908 subs | 32 h11,629 subs |
| Bortle 8City | 3 h 17 min1,182 subs | 13 h4,726 subs | 53 h18,902 subs |
| Bortle 9Inner city | 5 h 58 min2,151 subs | 24 h8,604 subs | 96 h34,413 subs |
Power and kit for this session
Allowing for slewing, focusing and rejected subs, that is about 6 h 16 min of run time. The Vespera Pro 2’s battery (rated about 11 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 20000mAh 30WExternal bank extends the 11 h battery.
- red LED head torchRed light keeps your night vision; white light costs you twenty minutes of dark adaptation every time.
Affiliate links: the retailer pays us a small commission and you pay the same price. These are search links to the named product, not endorsements of a particular listing; check the listing matches your model.
Everything that fits the Vespera Pro 2 →
How it frames
The North America Nebula is 120′ × 100′ across. The Vespera Pro 2 frames 1.65° × 1.65° at 1.68″ 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
10 s subs by default; Expert Mode manual targets allow 1 to 30 s. Alt-azimuth only; CovalENS mosaic gives 3.2° × 3.2° at 50 MP. Time for a solid image by sub length:
| Sub length | Bortle 3 | Bortle 5 | Bortle 7 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 s | 1 h 59 min713 subs | 3 h 07 min1,122 subs | 8 h 05 min2,908 subs |
| 20 s | 1 h 38 min295 subs | 2 h 46 min499 subs | 7 h 44 min1,392 subs |
| 30 s | 1 h 31 min183 subs | 2 h 39 min319 subs | 7 h 37 min915 subs |
With and without the dual-band filter
| Filter | Bortle 3 | Bortle 5 | Bortle 7 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No filter | 1 h 59 min713 subs | 3 h 07 min1,122 subs | 8 h 05 min2,908 subs |
| dual-band (Dual Band filter), clip-on | 2 h 32 min914 subs | 2 h 53 min1,039 subs | 4 h 24 min1,586 subs |
The Vespera Pro 2 has no built-in dual-band filter. Optional clip-on Vaonis filters: dual-band, light-pollution (CLS) and solar. On an emission target like this it is the single biggest upgrade you can make.
About the North America Nebula
A huge emission cloud next to Deneb shaped like the continent. The Cygnus Wall is the bright bit; a dual-band filter and a wide field make it one of the best summer targets from town.
NGC 7000, Caldwell 20 · Emission nebula in Cygnus · magnitude 4.0 · 120′ × 100′ · best in Jul, Aug, Sep. Reachable from mid-northern latitudes (UK, northern US, central Europe) and from the south.
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 Vaonis Vespera Pro 2
The square-sensor 2026 Vespera with 2 µm pixels. Sharper than the Vespera 3 on small targets and correspondingly slower per pixel; the 12.5 MP square frame suits galaxies and planetaries.
10 s subs by default; Expert Mode manual targets allow 1 to 30 s. Alt-azimuth only; CovalENS mosaic gives 3.2° × 3.2° at 50 MP. Optional clip-on Vaonis filters: dual-band, light-pollution (CLS) and solar.
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 30 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 North America Nebula from a Vespera Pro 2? Email it with your total time and sky to [email protected] and it goes here, credited.
Same target, other telescopes
- North America Nebula with the ZWO Seestar S50: 1 h 25 min from Bortle 6
- North America Nebula with the ZWO Seestar S50 Pro: 1 h 36 min from Bortle 6
- North America Nebula with the ZWO Seestar S30: 1 h 39 min from Bortle 6
- North America Nebula with the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro: 1 h 43 min from Bortle 6
- North America Nebula with the DwarfLab DWARF 3: 1 h 46 min from Bortle 6
- North America Nebula with the DwarfLab DWARF mini: 1 h 24 min from Bortle 6
- North America Nebula with the DwarfLab Draco: 1 h 08 min from Bortle 6
- North America Nebula with the DwarfLab DWARF II: 7 h 45 min from Bortle 6
- North America Nebula with the Vaonis Vespera II: 2 h 15 min from Bortle 6
- North America Nebula with the Vaonis Vespera Pro: 5 h 04 min from Bortle 6
- North America Nebula with the Vaonis Vespera 3: 2 h 09 min from Bortle 6
- North America Nebula with the Unistellar eQuinox 2: 2 h 04 min from Bortle 6
- North America Nebula with the Unistellar Odyssey: 9 h 33 min from Bortle 6
- North America Nebula with the Celestron Origin: 36 min from Bortle 6
- North America Nebula with the Celestron Origin Mark II: 49 min from Bortle 6
All telescopes for the North America Nebula · All targets for the Vespera Pro 2