CALCULATE WITH CONFIDENCE

Astrophotography & Cameras

Astrophotography Total Integration Time Calculator

Plan accepted integration by filter, audit completed multi-session captures, or solve whole frames and sessions from an entered acceptance and overhead scenario.

Astronomy & Space · model workbench

Keep accepted integration, rejected exposure and observation overhead explicit from individual frames through filters and sessions.

Private calculations in your browser · explicit inputs and model boundaries
Example preview · LRGB plus H-alpha planExpected time allocation by filter
Accepted integration 13.0283333 h / 13 h targetLuminanceLuminance: accepted integration 10,812 sLuminance: rejected exposure 1,908 sLuminance: overhead 636 sRedRed: accepted integration 7,200 sRed: rejected exposure 1,800 sRed: overhead 350 sGreenGreen: accepted integration 7,200 sGreen: rejected exposure 1,800 sGreen: overhead 350 sBlueBlue: accepted integration 7,290 sBlue: rejected exposure 2,430 sBlue: overhead 378 sH-alphaH-alpha: accepted integration 14,400 sH-alpha: rejected exposure 3,600 sH-alpha: overhead 480 sSession setupSession setup: accepted integration 0 sSession setup: rejected exposure 0 sSession setup: overhead 1,500 sacceptedrejectedoverhead

Each filter bar uses the entered exposure, acceptance scenario and overhead. Blue is expected accepted integration, magenta is expected rejected exposure and amber is non-integrating overhead; the separate setup row is added once.

  1. 1EnterProvide the known values
  2. 2CalculateResults update automatically
  3. 3VerifyReview the details and units
Try an example

Filter plan
1 row
Row 1

Empty rows are ignored until edited. Keep commas and tabs out of individual entries; use the paste view for comma- or tab-separated records.

Enter values in min.

Calculation result

—

Enter valid values to see the result.

Your entries are calculated in this browser and are not submitted to 365CALCS.COM.

Feedback

Understand the relationship

The reasoning behind the result

Integration and observation time answer different questions

Taccepted = Naccepted texp; Tobservation = Ncaptured(texp + toverhead) + Tsetup

Detector integration accumulates only while an exposure is open. Readout, dithering, settling, focusing, filter changes and setup consume observation time without becoming integration.

The planner therefore prints accepted integration, rejected exposure, captured sensor time and non-integrating overhead separately.

Acceptance is a planning scenario

Ncaptured = ceil(Naccepted / a)

An entered fraction a estimates how many captures may be needed to reach a target number of accepted frames. Whole frames round upward per filter.

The resulting expected accepted count can exceed the target slightly. It is not a prediction of weather, guiding, focus, clouds or quality-control decisions.

Completed logs use observed rejection

Naccepted = Ncaptured − Nrejected

A completed audit does not reuse a planning acceptance percentage. It reconstructs accepted and rejected exposure from the entered capture log.

Elapsed time cannot be shorter than captured frames multiplied by exposure duration; any remaining elapsed time is retained as measured non-integrating overhead.

Session capacity is discrete

C = floor((S − U)/(texp + toverhead)); sessions = ceil(Ncaptured/C)

Setup U is deducted from every available session S before complete frame cycles are counted. A fractional exposure is never scheduled.

The final session can be shorter, while unfilled fragments in earlier sessions remain unused under this simple equal-capacity model.

Follow the numbers

Solve an eight-hour accepted-integration target

  1. Divide 28,800 target seconds by 300 seconds per accepted exposure to obtain 96 target accepted frames.
  2. Divide 96 by the entered 0.80 expected acceptance and round upward to 120 capture frames.
  3. After a 20-minute setup, a 240-minute session has 13,200 seconds for 305-second exposure-plus-overhead cycles, so it holds 43 whole captures.
  4. Round 120 / 43 upward to three sessions; the last session contains 34 frames.
  5. Add 120 × 300 seconds of sensor time, 120 × 5 seconds of frame overhead and 3 × 20 minutes of setup to obtain 40,200 seconds of scheduled clock time.

The inverse keeps the eight-hour accepted target distinct from ten hours of captured sensor time and 11.1667 hours of scheduled observation time.

Quick guide

How to use this calculator

  1. Use filter planning for a future target, completed audit for measured capture-log segments, or the inverse workflow to turn an accepted-integration target into whole capture frames and sessions.
  2. Enter expected acceptance only as a scenario based on your own planning basis. Rejected frames remain captured sensor time but do not count toward accepted integration.
  3. Keep per-frame overhead separate from one-time or per-session setup. In a completed audit, enter the actual elapsed duration for each segment so measured overhead can be reconstructed.
  4. Use the tables to inspect each filter or session segment before relying on the headline total. Exposure suitability and signal-to-noise remain a separate calculation.

Calculation method

Calculation and interpretation

Keep accepted integration, rejected exposure and observation overhead explicit from individual frames through filters and sessions.

Target accepted integration = exposure × target accepted frames; captured frames = ceil(target accepted frames / expected acceptance); completed accepted integration = (captured − rejected) × exposure; observation time = captured exposure + per-frame overhead + session setup; frames/session = floor((session time − setup)/(exposure + overhead)).

Worked example

Solve an eight-hour accepted-integration target

The inverse keeps the eight-hour accepted target distinct from ten hours of captured sensor time and 11.1667 hours of scheduled observation time.

Target accepted integration = exposure × target accepted frames; captured frames = ceil(target accepted frames / expected acceptance); completed accepted integration = (captured − rejected) × exposure; observation time = captured exposure + per-frame overhead + session setup; frames/session = floor((session time − setup)/(exposure + overhead)).

Supported inputs

Precision and limits

Entered acceptance only

Acceptance is an explicit scenario or an observed completed-log count. The page does not predict weather, tracking, focus, seeing, clouds, gradients, satellite trails or quality-control outcomes.

No signal-to-noise model

More integration can change noise behaviour, but this calculator does not model source signal, sky background, read noise, dark current, stacking weights or an exposure recommendation.

Overhead model

Future plans use entered per-frame and setup overhead. Completed audits assign elapsed time beyond captured exposure to one combined overhead record without identifying its cause.

Equal session capacity

The inverse assumes every planned session has the same available duration and setup. Twilight, target altitude, meridian changes, moonlight and changing night length are outside the model.

No acquisition control

The output is a planning ledger. It does not connect to capture software, schedule filters, control a camera or mount, or decide when a frame should be rejected.

Continue calculating

Related calculators