Dedicated thread for the DWARFLAB Dwarf 2.

[Ancient Starstuff]

exposure 8, gain 80, 115 stacked in siril, stretched, color calibrated.  This was my first try with Orion on Dwarflab2

[Bobby1970]

First attempt at solar with the Dwarf yesterday. Lots of high cloud but still quite impressed for such a small scope. 

 

Thanks for looking 

[Bobby1970]

The Moon this evening at around 6pm. Short video then processed on Pipp, AS3, Registax and Paint.net

 

 

The sun from Sunday afternoon, same sort of process followed. 

 

Thanks for looking 

[Doug9559]

@Bobby1970

Very impressive NGC7000, particularly from only 285 subs, love the subtle nebuosity.

I've had a go at this one in the past but didn't get anywhere near your result.  Does the Tri band filter make a difference?  You've spurred me on to try again!!

I also use Siril and Starnet plus Affinity Photo and Topaz Photo AI.

[Doug9559]

@Bobby1970

Very impressive NGC7000, particularly from only 285 subs, love the subtle nebuosity.

I've had a go at this one in the past but didn't get anywhere near your result.  Does the Tri band filter make a difference?  You've spurred me on to try again!!

I also use Siril and Starnet plus Affinity Photo and Topaz Photo AI.

[Bobby1970]

7 hours ago, Doug9559 said:

@Bobby1970

Very impressive NGC7000, particularly from only 285 subs, love the subtle nebuosity.

I've had a go at this one in the past but didn't get anywhere near your result.  Does the Tri band filter make a difference?  You've spurred me on to try again!!

I also use Siril and Starnet plus Affinity Photo and Topaz Photo AI.

Thanks Doug. I can't really say if the filter has ultimately made the difference as I've not captured the same target without it. For that sort of target it seemed a good option to use. 

I suspect I will mainly be doing lunar and solar now the nights are a lot shorter. But the Dwarf II is a great bit of kit on my view. Easy to set up and grab something, won't win any prizes but I'm fine with that. 

[Doug9559]

@Bobby1970 Don't give on DSO yet, I took this last night 20 May around 11pm with the D2 when the Moon was at 93% waxing gibbous shining full on the D2.

M51 was almost at zenith but the D2 is really happy in equatorial mode - I checked this with Dwarflab a while ago because I know that very early models had issues with cracked bases, this has now been strengthened.

For EQ mode I can't see Polaris from where I'm imaging I use a digital inclinometer to get approximate declination (52.6° from where I am) and a compass to find N-S, it seems to be close enough and I get very little field rotation.  This image was 900 subs, 6 seconds, 100 gain.  Processed in Siril, Affinity Photo and Topaz Photo AI (the latter really helps with denoising and cleaning up the background).

The D2 is NEVER going to replace a "proper" astro rig but I get a hell of a lot of fun using it.  Looking forward to seeing what the Dwarf 3 looks like after the 30 May release, what I've seen looks good but not what I'd call a game changer.  Although I'm thinking of putting in a capex request with the wife if the pricing is right...

 

 

 

[FrankRyanJr]

On the eve of Dwarf Lab releasing the V3 - I finally finished reviewing the V2!
Knowing that a lot of newcomers had picked it up or were thinking about it, I though it'd be better to give advice and tips along the way (without bamboozling them about pixel ratios and dithering)..yet!

(Hope it's ok to share, Well, ya can't accuse me of trying to make money from affiliate sales!)
https://youtu.be/itTuI_1JEsQ

I think with everyone gushing (and probably rightly so) about the new D3, for the people that recently bought the D2 I suppose they may be feeling hard done by. I don't think they should. The unit is a little powerhouse.
Sure it's got niggly issues but it's been proven by better astrophotographers than me just what you can actually get from it.
I've an ancient Canon 350D that I still use! It's like an antique now in comparison to new cameras but we really need to think about the tools we have. I often use an old Pentax Film camera just to get that 'Film Feel'.
Sure if there are technical aspects that improve the image and this is what is critical for you then go for it.
I think there is merit in a lot of old gear. I sell nothing as I've found I'll always in some way find a use for it.
I guess there may be a flood of D2's going up for sale for people to put against buying the D3 but for sure it's still a great little smart scope. Especially for beginners.
I don't gatekeep when it comes to Astronomy or Astrophotography - whatever get's you out there looking up is good in my book.

[Geoff Lister]

Dwarflab has just released V2.2.0 of its app. One new feature is the associated sky atlas, similar to that used with the Seestar S50. The Dwarflab one has T Coronae Borealis identified, for those of us waiting for it to go nova (predicted to be some time this year).

Geoff

[Doug9559]

On 29/06/2024 at 00:39, Geoff Lister said:

Dwarflab has just released V2.2.0 of its app. One new feature is the associated sky atlas, similar to that used with the Seestar S50. The Dwarflab one has T Coronae Borealis identified, for those of us waiting for it to go nova (predicted to be some time this year).

Geoff

Nice.  Yes I've been beta testing but I've now added eps CrB (epsilon coronae borealis) to my favourites in the Dwarf star atlas, the "blaze star" being just below that.

[StevieDvd]

Not many Dwarf pics lately so I thought I'd post a capture last night of M31 with the Dwarf in EQ mode on a nice stable WO wedge.  15 second exposures at gain 50 - 542 exposures around 2 1/4 hours this is the Dwarf saved png stacked/uncropped image - I have yet to do any post processing of the fits so hope to improve it a bit.

And with a quick process and colour calibration in PI.

Edited August 8 by StevieDvd
Add processed image

[Geoff Lister]

2 nights ago (9th Aug) -

Comet 13P / Olbers, now reducing in magnitude, but easier to capture, and with surrounding magnitude 9 to 10 stars.

T CrB (still about magnitude 10) with the markers that I find handy to locate it

Geoff

[kasprowy]

I am way behind the times, but here are my Dwarf 2 pix from the total eclipse, in Sparta, Illinois, USA on April 8th, 2024. It is a fantastic little scope.

[kasprowy]

Some others from this past week. The star field is centered on the Ring Nebula. Tiny, but it showed up under heavy light pollution 30km from downtown Chicago, Bortle 8/9. I think this is a stack of 50 x 3 sec exposures.

PS - I love that I can post 1GB of attachments instead of the 50kb or whatever limit on Cloudy Nights...

Edited September 13 by kasprowy

[Ancient Starstuff]

Speaking of eclipses.  Here's a timelapse video I took of the eclipse with the dwarf 2.  Have to do a youtube link b/c size restrictions.  

 

[Bobby1970]

16 hours ago, kasprowy said:

Some others from this past week. The star field is centered on the Ring Nebula. Tiny, but it showed up under heavy light pollution 30km from downtown Chicago, Bortle 8/9. I think this is a stack of 50 x 3 sec exposures.

PS - I love that I can post 1GB of attachments instead of the 50kb or whatever limit on Cloudy Nights...

I like the ring nebula, had a go at this myself a while back with the Dwarf II

 

 

 

[kasprowy]

The partial Lunar eclipse maximum, 21:44 local time.

[cryptologic]

Got mine back in late June but hadn't got to use it much.  Finally took a few pics with it.  These are the raw stacked photo's right off the Dwarf 2 SD card.  Trying to learn Siril now to make these look better.

[kasprowy]

My first try at Andromeda, incorrectly oriented of course. Also the Pleiades and Algol.