How long to image the NGC 7331 with the ZWO Seestar S50
From a Bortle 6 suburban sky, the ZWO Seestar S50 needs about 2 h 07 min (762 subs of 10 s) for a solid image of the NGC 7331. A quick look takes 32 min; a showpiece 8 h 27 min. Under a Bortle 3 rural sky the solid figure drops to 49 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 23% 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 | 10 min63 subs | 42 min251 subs | 2 h 47 min1,003 subs |
| Bortle 2Typical dark site | 11 min67 subs | 44 min267 subs | 2 h 57 min1,065 subs |
| Bortle 3Rural | 12 min74 subs | 49 min296 subs | 3 h 17 min1,184 subs |
| Bortle 4Rural / suburban transition | 15 min92 subs | 1 h 01 min368 subs | 4 h 05 min1,472 subs |
| Bortle 5Suburban | 20 min121 subs | 1 h 20 min482 subs | 5 h 21 min1,927 subs |
| Bortle 6Bright suburban | 32 min191 subs | 2 h 07 min762 subs | 8 h 27 min3,045 subs |
| Bortle 7Suburban / urban transition | 54 min324 subs | 3 h 36 min1,294 subs | 14 h5,176 subs |
| Bortle 8City | 1 h 28 min531 subs | 5 h 53 min2,121 subs | 24 h8,484 subs |
| Bortle 9Inner city | 2 h 42 min972 subs | 11 h3,885 subs | 43 h15,538 subs |
Power and kit for this session
Allowing for slewing, focusing and rejected subs, that is about 2 h 45 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 NGC 7331 is 10′ × 4′ across. The Seestar S50 frames 1.28° × 0.72° at 2.39″ per pixel, so it fills 23% 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 | 49 min296 subs | 1 h 20 min482 subs | 3 h 36 min1,294 subs |
| 20 s | 42 min127 subs | 1 h 13 min220 subs | 3 h 28 min626 subs |
| 30 s | 40 min80 subs | 1 h 11 min142 subs | 3 h 26 min412 subs |
| 60 s | 37 min38 subs | 1 h 08 min69 subs | 3 h 24 min204 subs |
Leave the dual-band filter out for the NGC 7331. 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 NGC 7331
A tilted spiral often compared to the Milky Way, with a group of background galaxies alongside. Stephan's Quintet is half a degree away.
Caldwell 30 · Galaxy in Pegasus · magnitude 9.5 · 10′ × 4′ · best in Aug, Sep, Oct. Reachable from mid-northern latitudes (UK, northern US, central Europe) and from the south.
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 NGC 7331 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 7331 with the ZWO Seestar S50 Pro: 2 h 19 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 7331 with the ZWO Seestar S30: 2 h 13 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 7331 with the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro: 2 h 27 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 7331 with the DwarfLab DWARF 3: 3 h 04 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 7331 with the DwarfLab DWARF mini: 2 h 06 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 7331 with the DwarfLab Draco: 1 h 44 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 7331 with the DwarfLab DWARF II: 7 h 14 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 7331 with the Vaonis Vespera II: 2 h 07 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 7331 with the Vaonis Vespera Pro: 4 h 44 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 7331 with the Vaonis Vespera 3: 2 h 01 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 7331 with the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2: 4 h 31 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 7331 with the Unistellar eQuinox 2: 1 h 55 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 7331 with the Unistellar Odyssey: 8 h 52 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 7331 with the Celestron Origin: 34 min from Bortle 6
- NGC 7331 with the Celestron Origin Mark II: 46 min from Bortle 6
All telescopes for the NGC 7331 · All targets for the Seestar S50