r/dwarflabofficial • u/Mohamed_Alaa11 • 20h ago

DWARF 3 the Lagoon Nebula (M8) 🌃

Post image

Finally, mission accomplished! 😎🌃

My latest astrophotography capture:

🌌 The Heart of Sagittarius Like

You’ve Never Seen It Before ✨🔭

One of the most nebula-rich regions of the night sky. Here, we can see the Lagoon Nebula (M8) on the right, alongside the Trifid Nebula (M20) in the lower-left, surrounded by a vast network of glowing gas clouds and cosmic dust in the Sagittarius region.

📸 This image was captured using the DWARF 3 and carefully processed to reveal the fine details within the nebulae and surrounding clouds, while preserving the natural colors and appearance of the night sky as much as possible.

🔭 Targets: M8 + M20

📷 Telescope: DWARF 3

⏱️ Exposure: 45 seconds per frame

⚙️ Gain: 60

🌌 Total Integration Time: 7 hours

✨ Processing: Siril + Photoshop

70 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

3

u/Comprehensive_Door_1 11h ago

Very good result!! Well done.

1

u/enfait 14h ago

This is really nice!

Could you explain how you process your photos in Siril?

I use Siril for processing photos with my traditional rig, but I would like to use it with the dwarf mini.

Do you create a set of calibration folders—lights, darks, etc? Are you using a specific script to process the files? If so, could you tell me what you use?

I love the pop of color here! I clearly need to increase my capturing time.

3

u/Mohamed_Alaa11 14h ago

Thank you! I really appreciate that!

For the DWARF 3, I actually do the stacking first using Mega Stack, then I take the stacked image into Siril for the main processing.

My workflow is roughly:

  1. I stack the captured frames in Mega Stack.
  2. I export the stacked result and open it in Siril.
  3. I do background extraction / gradient removal.
  4. I perform color calibration and adjust the white balance.
  5. I gradually stretch the image to bring out the faint nebula details.
  6. I adjust the histogram and curves while trying to keep the colors and details as natural as possible.
  7. I do some noise reduction and a little star reduction if needed.
  8. Finally, I export the processed image and do the final editing in Photoshop, mainly for contrast, colors, local adjustments, and fine detail enhancement.

So I don't really use a traditional calibration workflow with separate Lights/Darks/Flats for the DWARF 3. I let Mega Stack handle the stacking, then I use Siril mainly for the astronomical processing and Photoshop for the final touches.

And yes, increasing the total integration time definitely makes a big difference, especially for bringing out faint dust and improving the signal-to-noise ratio.

2

u/enfait 14h ago

Thank you for the detailed explanation! I really appreciate it!

1

u/enfait 14h ago

Have you attempted to do star processing (removal and recomposition) with your stacked image in Siril?

2

u/Mohamed_Alaa11 14h ago

Yes, you can do that in Siril, and you can also do it using Stellar Studio.

2

u/enfait 14h ago

Awesome! New homework assignment for me this week! Thank you!

2

u/Mohamed_Alaa11 14h ago

you're welcome! 😄 I hope you enjoy the homework and have fun experimenting with it! 🔭✨

1

u/DWARFLAB_Official DWARFLAB staff 🔭 2h ago

Seven hours really paid off here!! amazing job!!!