This galaxy season, I used the DWARF 3 smart telescope to capture six very different deep-sky targets (60s Gain 50 and 10h+ per image minimum)

M63 Sunflower Galaxy
M101 Pinwheel Galaxy
M51 Whirlpool Galaxy
M106
Markarian’s Chain
M81 Bode’s Galaxy

Each one taught me something different.

M51 is a great target because you can see the interaction between the Whirlpool Galaxy and its companion.

M101 was more of a patience test. It is large and face-on, but faint, so the signal really needs time to build.

M63 was more subtle. The Sunflower Galaxy does not jump out immediately, but the structure starts to appear with longer integration and careful processing.

M106 surprised me. It is not always the first galaxy people think of, but it is a very rewarding target with a strong core and nice structure.

Markarian’s Chain is probably the best “scale” image of the group. What looks like a field of small smudges is actually a field of galaxies.

M81 has become one of my favorite long-integration targets with the DWARF 3. It rewards more time, better stacking, and careful processing.

What I like about this project is that it shows what a small smart telescope can do when you move beyond quick captures and give the data time to build. These are not observatory-level images, of course, but from a compact setup under ordinary suburban skies, I think the DWARF 3 continues to surprise me.

For me, galaxy imaging is becoming less about a single final image and more about the process: collecting faint light, learning what longer integration does, improving the processing, and seeing how much structure can be pulled out of a small-aperture system.

Small telescope. Big universe.

Happy to share capture settings or processing notes if helpful. I’m still learning how far the DWARF 3 can be pushed on galaxy season targets. More details on https://dwarfastro.com

Is gain 80 too high for M51 ? Could It be solved with more and more picture ? 169 here exposure 15s

Thanks

Betelgeuse taken with Dwarf 2
150 subs x 6 seconds @ 60 gain
stacked and processed in Siril and Gimp
accessories: 3d printed star spike mask

Can I just say how impressed I am with the quality of the images without even using the studio.

Question: what software do you use to modify/photoshop/colour/etc your shots?

I managed to get a picture of a quasar! This is the farthest object I have ever captured yet so far on my Dwarf3 at around 2.5 Billion light years away.

I'll need to process this with external software sometime, but I don't have time to do so yet.

Exp time: 30 sec

Gain: 90

Timelapse of towering cumulus clouds on dwarf mini

The North America and Pelican Nebulae in Cygnus, captured with the compact DWARF Mini using EQ mode, mosaic mode, and a dual narrowband filter.

This image combines 60 × 90 second exposures and reveals vast hydrogen clouds nearly 2,000 light-years away. The bright “Cygnus Wall” near the lower center is an active star-forming region shaped by intense stellar radiation and winds.

What impressed me most is the unbelievable quality of the DWARF Mini’s automatic processing pipeline. The internal stacking and processing already produced a remarkably clean and detailed result — only very slight Lightroom adjustments were needed to finalize the image.

For such a small and portable system, the amount of faint nebulosity and structure it can recover is genuinely remarkable.

🔭 DWARF Mini

🧪 Dual narrowband filter

⏱️ 60 × 90 s

✨ Total integration: 1h 30m

Picked up a Dwarf Mini a few weeks ago and have been having a blast with it. We’re on a small farm with open viewing from the west to east (south is block by trees), Bortle 3, northern Michigan US.

Since nebulae are finally revealing themselves above the horizon, I decided to give North America/Pelican a try last Friday night. As I was out watching progress, I got another nice show (we’ve had some epic auroras over the past couple years but it’s always a treat to see them)!

This was my first mosaic, 60s exposures, 70 gain, over 3 1/2 hours, EQ mode. I’m still finding my footing in terms of editing, used Stellar Studio, Astro Finish and Lightroom Mobile.

D3, 60s, 60g, 9.5hrs, siril, photoshop, Lightroom.

Lagoon Nebula (M8) and Trifid Nebula (M20) on a moonless night in The Great Southern, Australia.

I’ve been working on a small tool for astrophotography planning and just released it:

AstroWindow.space

The idea is simple: instead of scrolling through huge sky maps or complicated planners, AstroWindow quickly shows the best targets available from your exact visible patch of sky at a given date and time.

What it does

• Define the actual portion of the sky visible from your backyard/location
• Instantly filter deep sky objects that are currently in that window
• Rank targets based on visibility and framing conditions
• Quickly build a session plan: manually or automatically
• When offline you can see your last plan

Plus, you can easily install it in your phone from your browser's three dots menu.

The main focus was speed and simplicity. I wanted something lightweight that helps you decide what to shoot tonight in a few seconds.

Any feedback, ideas and bug reports are super welcome. I’m actively improving it based on your comments.

https://astrowindow.space

Clear skies!

I am a beginner in astrophotography. Today, while looking at some NASA images obtained by ARTEMIS II (the first image of the post), I was absolutely amazed when I compared them to the ones I captured this week with the DWARF Mini smart telescope. With an exposure time of no more than 20 minutes, there is a striking similarity. Since I have zero experience in astrophotography, I bought the DWARF just a week ago, and this being my very first test with it, I wonder if such a strong resemblance is even possible, or should I be suspicious of the processing done by Stellar Studio? The image of Artemis was obtained 367548 km from Earth.

60s / 60 / Astro
3h, 180 images stacked
Bortle 4, Sky Quality 21.47
0% Lunar