Discovery Astrophotography with ZWO ASTRO

Epic Spaghetti Nebula & Mars: A 569-Hour Journey Across 147 Nights with ZWO Equipment

This image was built over 569 hours of integration, spread across 147 nights over 3 years!
 
Astrophotographer Jeffrey Horne recently completed what he calls “the most ambitious astrophotography project I’ve ever attempted” — an incredible image of the Spaghetti Nebula with Mars passing through, taken from his light-polluted (Bortle 8–9) backyard in Nashville, taken by ZWO ASI2600MM Pro.
“I love nebulae with fine filament structure, and this one takes the cake for that. I know 569 hours is overkill, but I didn’t want to look back and think, ‘it could have been better with more data.’ I wanted to give it everything that I could.”
 
But it wasn’t just time that made this project hard.
 
The Spaghetti Nebula lies right on the ecliptic, which means that during the lunar cycle, the Moon regularly passed directly through Jeffrey’s field of view, limiting imaging windows.
 
To make things even trickier, Jupiter made a surprise appearance in year three, just close enough to introduce serious internal reflections in his Sii frames. He even tried fabricating a longer dew shield to block it — but it didn’t help much. Fortunately, he was able to gather enough clean subframes to average out the artifacts.
 
“There were so many nights I set up and got 1–2 hours of data, and plenty of nights I got nothing. But I kept going. If there was even a chance of clear skies, I’d be out there.”
 
To Jeffrey, this isn’t just an image. It’s a testament to what’s possible with dedication, patience, and a little (or a lot of) stubbornness.
 
“This image means a lot to me — not just as a technical achievement, but as proof of what you can do with perseverance, the right tools, and a little stubbornness.”
 
We’re honored that ZWO equipment played a part in this journey！🙌

Share:

Hide comments

Leave a comment


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

More Posts