DWARF 3 vs Draco on the Heart Nebula: What’s Not to Love?
Two DWARFLAB smart telescopes, one Heart Nebula (IC 1805), one Siril workflow: 7 hours 48 minutes on a 35mm DWARF 3 from a Bortle 6 driveway against 3 hours on a 90mm…
Astro Filter
Posts using or discussing the DWARF 3 built-in Astro filter, a broadband light pollution filter covering 430 to 690nm used for galaxies, star clusters, and general deep sky work.
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From 8 Minutes to 157 Hours: One Year of Deep-Sky Imaging success with the DWARF 3
M51 was the first target with the Dwarf 3. August 2025, Alt-Az mode, 8 minutes and 30 seconds of 15-second subs on a galaxy low in the summer sky. The telescope was…
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Iris Nebula NGC 7023: Six Hours of Blue Light With No Duo-Band Shortcut Available
The iris nebula (NGC 7023) is a reflection nebula, not an emission nebula. The distinction isn’t cosmetic. An emission nebula like the Eagle or the Clamshell glows because ultraviolet radiation from nearby…
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Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex, Captured with the DWARF 3
Antares and Rho Ophiuchi never gets high from a New England backyard. At roughly 42 degrees north latitude, the star tops out somewhere around 20 to 30 degrees above the southern horizon…
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Borrowed Light: Capturing M78 Nebula with the DWARF 3
What You Will Learn In this post I share my February 2026 DWARF 3 image of M78 nebula (aka the friendly ghost nebula), a reflection nebula in Orion. I cover what makes…
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M63 Sunflower Galaxy with the Dwarf 3: 4h 50m from Bortle 6
A 4 hour 50 minute integration of M63, the Sunflower Galaxy, from a Bortle 6 backyard using the DwarfLab Dwarf 3 in EQ mode with Astro filter and temperature-matched dark frames.
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M101 Pinwheel Galaxy: 6 Hours on a Face-On Spiral with the DWARF 3
A single-session DWARF 3 imaging project on M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy in Ursa Major. 6 hours and 18 minutes of total integration at 60-second sub-exposures, gain 50, Astro filter, Bortle 6. Documents…
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Astrophotography Insights: 15 Hours on M106 and Its Companions
A three-session DWARF 3 imaging project on M106, a Seyfert galaxy in Canes Venatici. 15 hours and 31 minutes of total integration, four companion galaxies in the field including NGC 4226 at…
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M81, 15 Hours, and a Hidden Galaxy: What Longer Exposures Taught Me on the DWARF 3
A 15-hour DWARF 3 imaging project on M81 and M82 comparing short versus 60-second sub-exposures under Bortle 6 skies, with background galaxy UGC 5210 detected at magnitude 14.88.