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…
DWARF Stellar Studio
Posts covering the native DWARF 3 processing application, including mega stack functionality, Auto cleanup, and the internal stacking pipeline.
-
-
Trifid Nebula M20: A Warm-Up Session Low in the Sagittarius Steam
I didn’t go into the July 16 session expecting a keeper. The Trifid nebula was more of a question than a plan: what does the DWARF 3 actually do with a target…
-
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…
-
Helix Nebula NGC 7293 with the DWARF 3
A 1 hour 46 minute DWARF 3 session on the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) using the Duo-Band filter under Bortle 6 skies. Documents the altitude constraint of imaging a southern target from…
-
Heart Nebula IC 1805 with the DWARF 3
A 3 hour 52 minute DWARF 3 session on the Heart Nebula (IC 1805) in Cassiopeia using the Duo-Band filter under Bortle 6 skies. Documents the challenge of imaging a large emission…
-
Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula with the DWARF 3
A 2 hour 54 minute DWARF 3 session on the Horsehead Nebula (B33) and Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) using the Duo-Band filter under Bortle 6 skies. Documents the challenge of imaging a…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Processing the Pleiades on the DWARF 3: Why I Add a Snapseed Step After Stellar Studio
A 30-minute M45 Pleiades capture on the DWARF 3 reveals why running denoise, star correction, and Auto in Stellar Studio then finishing in Snapseed with Adjust, Dehaze, Curves, and White Balance produces…
-
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.