Data story

What 12 smart telescopes can capture from 50 European cities

From a light-polluted city centre, on average 38 of the 110 Messier objects come within reach of a smart telescope over a year; at a dark site it is 77. Latitude matters too: from the centre of Reykjavík 25 objects qualify, from Valletta 55.

Key findings

Odyssey and Odyssey Pro frame the most objects: on average 25 per city centre. Wide-field models such as the Seestar S30 Pro frame 9. Most Messier objects are small, so a narrow field shows them larger.
Leaving the city pays off: the average number of objects within reach rises from 38 in a city centre to 62 in a suburb and 77 at a dark site, mostly faint galaxies.
The further south, the more of the sky climbs high enough: low southern objects such as the Lagoon Nebula barely rise in the north. Valletta has the most objects within reach, Reykjavík the fewest.
Under $600, the Seestar S50 ($549) frames the most: on average 22 objects per city centre.

Objects each telescope frames well, per city

Rows run from north to south. Brighter cells mean more objects. Switch the sky level to see what changes when you leave the city.

City	Within reach	Odyssey	Odyssey Pro	Seestar S50	Origin Mark II	Seestar S30	DWARF mini	Seestar S50 Pro	Vespera II	Vespera 3	DWARF 3	Vespera Pro 2	Seestar S30 Pro
Reykjavík 64° N	25	15	15	13	13	8	8	7	7	7	6	6	6
Helsinki 60° N	26	16	16	14	14	9	9	8	8	8	6	6	6
Oslo 60° N	27	17	17	14	14	9	9	8	8	8	6	6	6
Tallinn 59° N	27	17	17	14	14	9	9	8	8	8	6	6	6
Stockholm 59° N	27	17	17	14	14	9	9	8	8	8	6	6	6
Riga 57° N	28	18	18	15	15	9	9	8	8	8	6	6	6
Edinburgh 56° N	29	19	19	16	16	9	9	8	8	8	6	6	6
Copenhagen 56° N	29	19	19	16	16	9	9	8	8	8	6	6	6
Vilnius 55° N	30	20	20	17	17	10	10	8	8	8	6	6	6
Hamburg 54° N	33	21	21	18	18	12	12	10	10	10	8	8	8
Manchester 53° N	33	21	21	18	18	12	12	10	10	10	8	8	8
Dublin 53° N	33	21	21	18	18	12	12	10	10	10	8	8	8
Berlin 53° N	34	22	22	19	19	12	12	10	10	10	8	8	8
Amsterdam 52° N	34	22	22	19	19	12	12	10	10	10	8	8	8
Warsaw 52° N	34	22	22	19	19	12	12	10	10	10	8	8	8
Rotterdam 52° N	34	22	22	19	19	12	12	10	10	10	8	8	8
London 52° N	35	23	23	20	20	13	13	10	10	10	8	8	8
Antwerp 51° N	35	23	23	20	20	13	13	10	10	10	8	8	8
Cologne 51° N	35	23	23	20	20	13	13	10	10	10	8	8	8
Brussels 51° N	35	23	23	20	20	13	13	10	10	10	8	8	8
Frankfurt 50° N	36	24	24	21	21	14	14	10	10	10	8	8	8
Prague 50° N	36	24	24	21	21	14	14	10	10	10	8	8	8
Kraków 50° N	36	24	24	21	21	14	14	10	10	10	8	8	8
Paris 49° N	36	24	24	21	21	14	14	10	10	10	8	8	8
Stuttgart 49° N	36	24	24	21	21	14	14	10	10	10	8	8	8
Vienna 48° N	37	25	25	22	21	14	14	10	10	10	8	8	8
Bratislava 48° N	37	25	25	22	21	14	14	10	10	10	8	8	8
Munich 48° N	37	25	25	22	21	14	14	10	10	10	8	8	8
Budapest 48° N	37	25	25	22	21	14	14	10	10	10	8	8	8
Zurich 47° N	38	25	25	22	21	14	14	10	10	10	8	8	8
Geneva 46° N	41	27	27	23	22	14	14	10	10	10	8	8	8
Ljubljana 46° N	41	27	27	23	22	14	14	10	10	10	8	8	8
Zagreb 46° N	41	27	27	23	22	14	14	10	10	10	8	8	8
Lyon 46° N	41	27	27	23	22	14	14	10	10	10	8	8	8
Milan 45° N	42	28	28	24	23	15	15	11	11	11	9	9	9
Turin 45° N	43	29	29	25	24	16	16	12	12	12	10	10	10
Belgrade 45° N	43	29	29	25	24	16	16	12	12	12	10	10	10
Bucharest 44° N	43	29	29	25	24	16	16	12	12	12	10	10	10
Marseille 43° N	43	29	29	25	24	16	16	12	12	12	10	10	10
Sofia 43° N	44	30	30	26	24	16	16	12	12	12	10	10	10
Rome 42° N	44	30	30	26	24	16	16	12	12	12	10	10	10
Barcelona 41° N	46	31	31	27	24	16	16	12	12	12	11	11	11
Porto 41° N	46	31	31	27	24	16	16	12	12	12	11	11	11
Naples 41° N	47	32	32	28	25	17	17	13	13	13	12	12	12
Madrid 40° N	48	32	32	29	26	18	18	14	14	14	13	13	13
Valencia 39° N	48	32	32	29	26	18	18	14	14	14	13	13	13
Lisbon 39° N	49	32	32	30	27	19	19	15	15	15	14	14	14
Athens 38° N	50	32	32	30	27	19	19	15	15	15	14	14	14
Seville 37° N	51	33	33	31	28	19	19	15	15	15	14	14	14
Valletta 36° N	55	37	37	35	31	21	21	17	17	17	16	16	14

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How we calculated this

For each city we checked all 110 Messier objects against the nights of 2026, sampled every 20 minutes on every second day. An object is within reach when it climbs at least 30° above the horizon while the Sun is more than 18° below it.

The sky level decides which objects are bright enough: in a city centre only objects we rate city-friendly, in a suburb also those rated suburban, at a dark site all of them. The rating comes from object type and surface brightness and is shown on every object guide.

A telescope counts an object when it fits the native field of view well: not larger than the frame and not so small that it is lost in it. Mosaics can capture larger objects; these counts leave them out.

This is a model, not a photo test: weather, local horizons and exposure time all change real results. The planner calculates the same for your own address and horizon.

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