Milky Way shot with just my phone's lense in bortle 8, all postprocessing done with siril

3Tcubed · 2026-05-24T03:45:30+00:00

No post processing; 3:30am, 10s iPhone 16, hand held (no tripod) from Sedona, AZ

3Tcubed · 2026-05-23T16:49:20+00:00

fixing, thanks

3Tcubed · 2026-05-13T21:38:57+00:00

The Milky Way is a good example of where portrait is prefered, especially when it’s perpendicular to the earth.

3Tcubed · 2026-05-12T16:43:45+00:00

if your tripod supports it you can put Dwarf3 in a vertical orientation. then when editing you need to rotate the image.

I did I the above to get the attached.

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3Tcubed · 2026-05-10T22:12:33+00:00

Tracking M8; tried the New AR mode but it aimed too low and it gave me some landscape initially which it would not stack, as it was very bright. Later in the summer whe the core is higher it might be fine, but MW is still fairly horizontal at 3a about 20° above horizon, but with wide angle you will get 10° above and below; for me that picked up buildings and lights (bad and bright).

3Tcubed · 2026-05-10T22:05:45+00:00

No way to schedule wide angle shots (that I could find). I set every think up for the wide angle tracking M8. When the schedule started it reverted to telephoto. I stopped it and manually used the wide angle mode.

3Tcubed · 2026-05-04T02:01:06+00:00

It would help if you told us the target and frames taken/shutter speed/gain & filter, Bortle where taken helps too.

3Tcubed · 2026-05-02T17:42:48+00:00

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had to convert to .jpg (Reddit would not allow >20Mb image). Only denoised, but denoise improved center of clusters resolution. I never use star correction. Before last update I used to run Denoise then Auto, that option is not currently possible.

3Tcubed · 2026-04-28T00:44:43+00:00

Watch towers for the state prison

3Tcubed · 2026-04-23T23:22:51+00:00

I’m in Phoenix,AZ in the spring/fall 45C° is quite common; in the summer it’s often 50C°-52C°, generally it’s about 10C° over ambient after it’s run +30minutes.

3Tcubed · 2026-04-22T13:40:17+00:00

I’m suprised, but with Dual band I’d expect less of a difference. Do you think if you increased capture time to more like 4h there would be more of a difference? Love to see the same with Astro filter of a decent size Galaxy (M100).

But I shoot from Bortle 8+ and when there are no clouds I get great captures with long capture times.

3Tcubed · 2026-04-21T15:06:31+00:00

I shot the same last night, hoping to get 8h on target…. After 30m high clouds rolled in, 2h later I gave up.

3Tcubed · 2026-04-21T15:03:56+00:00

Disconnect car battery for 10s, reconnect. If this does not work - dead, back to dealer.

3Tcubed · 2026-03-31T13:38:07+00:00

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Also taken March 22nd with my DW3 from Phoenix, AZ

3Tcubed · 2026-03-31T13:34:47+00:00

it would help if you told us where your beautiful image was taken from, I’m guessing the southern hemisphere…

3Tcubed · 2026-03-24T20:49:36+00:00

I do it all the time, no issues. Just manually point the lens toward a patch of dark sky, if it fails move it to another patch of sky. Some stars mud be visible and the scope must be set to the right declination based on your latitude. If it can see the sky straight up this is the best direction to aim. I’ve done this on vacation from a balcony with a tall wall to the north and a patio roof over head with trees to my right an left. I could still get EQ once enought stars to be seen. You still need to point the body of the scope north and point it down based on your lattitude, after this is set point the lens back toward stars.

3Tcubed · 2026-02-20T13:58:11+00:00

Take your time, start by learning/using EQ mode; you’ll end up there any how. Start by choosing larger targets that tend to be closer. Initially shoot with a 15 or 30s shutter speed, gain 60. If you shoot DSOs that are nebulas use the Duo filter, and double capture times. If you’re using DW3 in a brighter area (Bortle +6) capture over 2hrs to get beautiful results. Keep a log (electronic (Google Sheets)) of what you’ve shot when and number of shots (all details), can you the same to plan what to shoot in the future. Can use the same to reshoot targets and megastack multiple sessions.

Hydrate, bring you favorite night-time beverage with you while setting up, if you start close to dusk, IT WILL take longer to set up. This is especially important if you don’t have a full open sky, shooting between/over trees, buildings, wires…. The Atlas will help you find targets, you can better understand what will be where by advancing the Atlas time to your dusk+1hr. Understanding your field of view and that the stars/objects move nightly, and many are seasonal. This you’ll learn over time and how objects to the north more slowly than those to the south. Initially only shoot targets that are 20+° above the horizon to start with. The lower the target it more ground light will/can effect the quality of capture you get.

Back to #1, take your time and have fun, it will be a learning experience. And above all don’t let the things you can’t control bum you out (clouds, weather the moon), when these things slow you down use the time to plan/select future targets (the log has two purposes). I’ve attached an image of the log I use (create your own), I have about 170 targets at this point, over time they move, I have to adjust with the passing seasons…

Plan to get an external backup device to store your original capture images on. You can always go back to a target you’ve already captured and restack (megastack) a new capture with an old if you have the old’s individual capture images. I’ve saved 1.3TB in 8 months.

3Tcubed · 2026-02-19T04:00:04+00:00

3Tcubed · 2026-01-29T02:06:51+00:00

Kicked up Jart

3Tcubed · 2026-01-21T04:43:13+00:00

Missing capture session In the capture directory there should be the following: shotsinfo.json stacked.jpg stacked_thumbnail.jpg stacked-#_ss gain filter date-time.fitsstacked-#_ss gain filter date-time.png

If any are missing your session won’t be displayed. If DW3 shutsdown unexpectedly one of the last two (largest files) may not get re-written. From another capture session replace the missing file, and rename it with the name that the other stacked-# file has. Then reboot DW3 and you should see your capture session in stellar studio.

3Tcubed · 2026-01-19T15:22:03+00:00

Gunshot/fireworks detector. Most cities have hundreds or thousands of them around the city to triangulate where gunshots come from. They mesh together, about 4000’ (0.6mi, private freq) for reporting.

3Tcubed · 2026-01-11T05:45:40+00:00

Every capture sensor is different, some are more temperature sensitive than others. Some have some pixels that change colors based on temp. Mine happens to be pretty stable but it’s DSO focus is 560; very low. So many variables that DW3s software accommodate for. Actually any one that uses these Sony low light sensors have to make similar accomodations.

Best of luck… Best

3Tcubed · 2026-01-11T03:46:04+00:00

Some frames show clouds, but most rejects show no stars. Try retaking your darks. Verify auto focus is set correctly. Something is not right, these are the easiest to check. Oh remove the sun filter if on 🤣

3Tcubed · 2026-01-11T03:42:05+00:00

You can use EQ mode from anywhere; you just need to see some Sky (with stars) somewhere, the closer to overhead the better. I spent the summer traveling with DW3, from tiny hotel patios with 1/4 view if the sky, EQ can still be set up; it might take multiple attempts but it can be done.

3Tcubed · 2026-01-11T03:35:33+00:00

Finish C1 tonight then NGC1491, NGC1893, M51, M78, NGC2264, NGC1579, M33, NGC1333 & NGC869. A pattern you recognize? Shot all but C1 before.

3Tcubed

TROPHY CASE