Mar 28 2026 APP 2.0.0-beta40 will be released in 7 days.
It did take a long time to have the work finished on this and it will have a major performance boost of 30-50% over 2.0.0-beta39 from calibration to integration. We extensively optimized many critical parts of APP. All has been tested to guarantee correct optimizations. Drizzle and image resampling is much faster for instance, those modules have been completely rewritten. Much less memory usage. LNC 2.0 will be released which works much better and faster than LNC in it's current state. And more, all will be added to the release notes in the coming weeks...
Update on the 2.0.0 release & the full manual
We are getting close to the 2.0.0 stable release and the full manual. The manual will soon become available on the website and also in PDF format. Both versions will be identical and once released, will start to follow the APP release cycle and thus will stay up-to-date to the latest APP version.
Once 2.0.0 is released, the price for APP will increase. Owner's license holders will not need to pay an upgrade fee to use 2.0.0, neither do Renter's license holders.
There is the opportunity to image two comets in the same field of view for the rest of March 2022.
C/2019 L3 (ATLAS) and 104P Kowal are currently less than 3 degrees apart in the sky. Closest approach is in two days when they will be approx 1 3/4 degrees apart.
Attached image is from 23 March. APS-C sensor, 300mm lens. ATLAS on left edge of frame, Kowal on right edge.
ATLAS is moving slowly, but is brightest. Kowal is faint, but moving so much that the comet will trail in just several minutes.
Here is closer view of Kowal, images registered/stacked on stars:
Here is Kowal, registered on the comet. (Requires much manual assistance/intervention.)
Good luck and clear skies!
Really nice, thanks for sharing! Our algorithms will improve as well with more data to test from everyone, thanks!
