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.
Last night was a clear night and i tried something new for me, the NGC281. I didn't know if my unmodded dslr was able to capture it, but it apparently was. So for now only +/- 60min of data (60x 60sec, iso800), but for sure i'll make a lot more next time. Not too happy with the result yet, but maybe you guys can help me solve the following:
What i couldn't solve last night was, how come the stars look slightly strechted and squared. I redid a polar alignment which didn't solve anything, i redid the balancing and that didn't solve anything either. I zoomed in fully on the Liveview and focussed, which looked ok.... before i was able to shoot anywhere from 60-90 sec subs, but now it looks like i can't reach more than 60sec anymore.... Any ideas? I am using an NEQ6Pro with BackyardNikon and EQMOD with Stellarium. And APP offcourse but that is afterwards 😉
Cheers,
Michel
Hi Michel,
Nice image again for only 60minutes of exposure, very colorfull 😉
Regarding the star shapes, I see what you mean, do you see this in single images or only after stacking? From your explanation I guess it's shown in the single images? If so, you probably need to have a look at collimation of your telescope. Its a 6"newton right?
Mabula
It is in the single frames as well.... i am using a Skywatcher Explorer 150PDS (so 150mm, don't know the inches).
Can you also tell me what i circled in the attached picture? It is in the partially uncropped version.... I couldn't find it in Stellarium either.
thanks,
Michel
Hi Michel,
Yes, the 150mm is 6 inches.
So I guess, the problem has to do with collimation of your scope then.
I can't directly say what's visible in the circle I am afraid, do you have any idea?
Maybe you can share it on facebook in the astroforum or on astroforum.nl? Maybe they have an idea?
Cheers,
Mabula
Hi Mabula,
I did collimate again, so now i have to wait till next pictures until i can check it.
i did ask on the Astroforum.nl and the answer for this object is: LDN1299. Aparently i needed to highlight more databases in stellarium to make this visible.
thanks for your response!
Excellent, coolio, it didn't look like an artefact, very nice then !
Mabula
