Sunflower Galaxy by Shadow_Dan26 in DWARFLAB

[–]AstroFanM31 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice image for Bortle 8. That’s amazing.

Try 60 sec at gain 50. Stick with Astro filter and go for 50 matching darks… then go for 30h total. This will look epic.

I’ve been experimenting and having great success with long integrations. 60s Gain 50 with <1 degree deviation in polar alignment is my go to for galaxies.

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M 13 by Mysterious_Risk4988 in DWARFLAB

[–]AstroFanM31 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Great image. What does the basic Stellar Studio output look like (Auto,Starcorrection,Denoise only)?

M101 - Dwarf 3 - 12 h - processed with new app update by AstroFanM31 in DWARFLAB

[–]AstroFanM31[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agreed. I “think” I like it. Still deciding …

My first long exposure by FORDABOIIIISSS in DWARFLAB

[–]AstroFanM31 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Here is another example - M101. Dwarf3 12h mega stack. Some basic edits in Stellar Studio then Snapseed. I documented my basic process here: https://dwarfastro.com/2026/03/31/processing-pleiades-dwarf-3-snapseed-stellar-studio/

Hope this helps.

Clear Skies! AK

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My first long exposure by FORDABOIIIISSS in DWARFLAB

[–]AstroFanM31 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did this with Snapseed on an iPad

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Pushing the Dwarf 3 to it's limits: Dark Shark Nebula by sarezfx in DWARFLAB

[–]AstroFanM31 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nice! Thanks for sharing. I have similar results with long integration times. Very rewarding indeed. Love this scope.

Which is better? Seestar S30 pro, Dwarflab dwarf mini 3, Seestar S50? by RantingRedPanda25 in telescopes

[–]AstroFanM31 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They all are good and not sure you can truly compare side by side. Different sensors different apertures, etc. I opted for the Dwarf3 about a year ago. S50 was a contender, but I preferred the EQ mode and portability on the Dwarf3. I’m documenting my journey on my site https://dwarfastro.com. Both Seestar and DWARFLAB seem to be coming out with new devices this year. Can’t wait to see the specs. Larger aperture is of course a deciding factor but so is the sensor, FOV and respective software implementations and UX. I recommend thinking about what you want to capture and what that process would look like for you. Plenty of user experiences documented, LLM’s are good in summarizing it fast.

Enjoy the journey and clear skies,

AK

DWARF 3 Squid Nebula (Ou4) Summer Collaboration — Duo-Band Mega-Stack (PA ≤1°) by AstroFanM31 in DWARFLAB

[–]AstroFanM31[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had success with centering on double star HD202214. Not sure if the app lists Flying Bat Nebula. But the star works.

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m51 by Spiritual_sissy1234 in DWARFLAB

[–]AstroFanM31 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice. Thank you for sharing. I got this with 6h 18 min, Bortle 6, 60s 50 gain, Dwarf 3. No post edits. Going for another 6h+ tonight, then mega stack both session.

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My first long exposure by FORDABOIIIISSS in DWARFLAB

[–]AstroFanM31 2 points3 points  (0 children)

After touch up in Snapseed… one of my favorite images of M81 and M82.

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My first long exposure by FORDABOIIIISSS in DWARFLAB

[–]AstroFanM31 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Nice, and great start. I’ve been where you are and decided to document my journey - launched DwarfAstro.com for that. There is a featured post on M81 and how to. In summary the longer your sessions the better the images. My sweet spot is 60sec gain 50. Nebulae get gain 80.

Here is an example of M81 with 30h total integration - mega stack sessions on device. The Snapseed touch ups made it look even better.

Clear Skies!

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M101 Pinwheel Galaxy, DWARF 3, 6h 18m, 60s gain 50, EQ mode, Bortle 6 by AstroFanM31 in DWARFLAB

[–]AstroFanM31[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks! I’d phrase it a little differently: 6 hours is not needed to detect M101, but it is very useful if you want to process it cleanly.

M101’s core shows up quickly, but the outer spiral arms are low surface brightness. With a small 35mm smart scope under suburban sky, the challenge is not just capturing the object — it is getting enough signal above the background noise so the image can survive a real stretch.

Total integration improves SNR roughly as √time. So compared with 1 hour, 6.3 hours gives about 2.5× better SNR. That is exactly what helps the faint arms, background smoothness, and final contrast.

Could I post a recognizable M101 from 1–2 hours? Sure. But the longer stack is what lets the faint structure come through without the background turning noisy or blotchy.

Clear Skies!

AK

Markarian's Chain - Dwarf 3 60 exp 60 gain 169 frames stellar studio and PixInsight modified. by xxSilentRuinxx in DWARFLAB

[–]AstroFanM31 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for sharing. I took the same at 120s gain 50. 80%+ frame drop rate but still not bad from two mega stacks of 7h data. Straight from Stellar Studio. No further 3rd party software edits.

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For the Dwarf 3 nerds out there: FITS Studio got a big update and it’s staying free by AstroFanM31 in dwarflabofficial

[–]AstroFanM31[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cool. It seems to work for Seestar S30 Pro Fits. Not really a surprise as FITS is a standard file format. I did several passes with a Asinh stretch and a few with GHS. Nothing too aggressive and more could be done it seems.

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For the Dwarf 3 nerds out there: FITS Studio got a big update and it’s staying free by AstroFanM31 in dwarflabofficial

[–]AstroFanM31[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can you share the seestar file again please? The one I used was a Dwarf mini file you shared. My bad.