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The moon is new tonight
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this post was submitted on 16 Apr 2026
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Oh, cool! So the Dwarf II is an "older" smart telescope by dwarf labs. It's pretty much an all in one solution. Takes the shots and stacks them all in one go. They've got an online processor you can use to take things further, and all the photos it takes are available for you to use in a third-party program, but I haven't gotten to that point yet. Honestly, I've mostly just been using it to take pics of the moon and sun for the most part. I really need to get a better feel for where things are in the sky so I know what's available to shoot and when. The dwarf does have an option to schedule shots and let it work overnight, but I find part of the appeal is to just kinda chill outside while I watch the picture on my phone get clearer and more defined. My first time taking astrophotos was in the middle of the woods with a borrowed camera while camping at a dark site and I had such a good time that I'm kinda hunting down that high. lol.
I've always enjoyed staring at the night sky and just letting my mind run wild. Last summer I went camping w my teenagers and while we were laying in the bed of the truck I started messing around w my phone camera and taking photos of stars. One of them I was adjusting the exposure some and something I did made the galaxy just show up. I've been hooked since then more or less.
I spent a lot of time with a tiny tripod taking photos w my iPhone. I've been saving money for a decent camera, glass, a tracker and all the assorted shit that comes w it. I finally started pulling the trigger on all of it a couple months ago. I've spent the last few weeks here and there learning how to set everything up and the last couple days practicing. I have some really fast wide angle glass and a cheaper kit zoom lens that I'm going to try using too. Going to try for galactic center photos and some nebula photos.
I'm currently rounding everything up to load up and head out. I live in a city now, so it's like Bortle scale 8-9 but I'm about 45 miles from a Bortle scale 2 location. The weather is supposed to be really good for star viewing, plus the like 1% moonlight should be my best chance at some beach milky way photos for at least another month.
It's such an insignificant thing to most folks but I'm so looking forward to this, not just the photos but all of it, really.