From Cockpit to Cosmos: Airline Pilot Jon Garguilo’s Deep-Sky

Journey with ZWO Jon Garguilo, a 41-year-old airline pilot based in Florida, has spent his life surrounded by skies — both above and beyond. His passion for space began in elementary school, when a school astronomy night introduced him to Saturn’s rings through a telescope. That one view left a permanent impression.

“Seeing Saturn’s rings through a school telescope lit the spark. My parents soon got me my first small scope, and from there I never stopped looking up.”

Years later, Jon picked up a digital camera and began photographing the Moon. When he captured his first image of the Orion Nebula, everything changed — he was officially hooked. Wanting longer exposures, he picked up a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer and began shooting iconic targets like Andromeda, Triangulum, and Orion.

Soon, Jon stepped up to a larger rig: a 10” Orion reflector on an Atlas EQ-G mount, still using his DSLR. The improvement was dramatic, but it wasn’t enough — guiding was next. After getting autoguiding to work on an old laptop, he added his first dedicated astrophotography camera: the ZWO ASI533MC Pro.

“That was the next big leap. The 533MC Pro and a dual narrowband filter pushed my results to another level. But the tech stack was a mess — constant updates, driver issues, and software conflicts. I needed something that just worked.”

With limited clear nights in Florida’s winter months — and even more limited time due to his airline schedule — Jon made the decision to switch to the full ZWO ecosystem for simplicity, automation, and reliability. He sold off the EQ-G and reflector, and retooled with the ZWO AM5 Harmonic Mount, ZWO Guide Camera + Guide Scope, ZWO EAF, ZWO ASIAIR Plus, and a 107mm APO refractor.

“For the first time, I could set up my rig, go to bed, and download beautiful data the next morning. No more fighting with software. Everything just worked.”

Eventually, Jon sold the 533MC Pro and upgraded to a ZWO ASI2600MM Pro with a 7-position EFW to better handle Florida’s light pollution using narrowband filters. He added the ZWO OAG-L, allowing for rock-solid guiding even on his heavier OTA — a Celestron 9.25” SCT — which the AM5 handles beautifully with a counterweight system.

Jon’s images are both technically sharp and artistically composed. A few recent highlights from his gallery include：