Capturing the Double Milky Way Arch Over Zermatt

Some images require patience. Others demand endurance. And then there are those that push the limits of both.

For a while now, I’ve wanted to capture a rare celestial event that happens only once a year: the Double Milky Way Arch.

A moment where, in a single night, we witness the Winter Milky Way setting while the Summer Milky Way rises, forming two full arches across the sky.

This event isn’t widely photographed, as it requires staying awake all night, carefully tracking the sky, and shooting over multiple hours in what I found to be difficult conditions. The window to capture it is limited, and everything—from the weather to the moon phase—needs to align.

For this image, I chose the Gornergrat in Zermatt, Switzerland. At 3’200m altitude in winter, it offered the perfect 360° view with the Matterhorn as a focal point, an unobstructed horizon, and a sky dark enough to shoot all night.

This newsletter walks through the full process—what makes the Double Milky Way Arch so special, the challenges of capturing it, the technical execution, how I processed the final image, and how you can attempt it still this month.

Before jumping into the full breakdown of this image, I wanted to share something that might be helpful for those working on their own Milky Way photography. I recently released a preset collection specifically designed for astrophotography, created to enhance details, tones, and contrast while keeping the night sky natural.

If you’re looking for a streamlined way to edit your Milky Way shots, you can check them out here:

The Phenomenon – What is the Double Milky Way Arch?

The Milky Way is always present in the sky, but its visibility and position change throughout the year. Most of the time astrophotographers capture either the Winter Milky Way (from autumn to early spring) or the Summer Milky Way (from late spring to early autumn) in the northern hemisphere. However, for a brief window each year, both are visible in the same night—one setting while the other rises.

This phenomenon occurs in the Northern Hemisphere between 25°N and 50°N latitude, usually around late winter or early spring, but the ideal range tends to be between 35°N and 45°N. This range provides the best balance:

• Below 35°N, the Galactic Center (Summer Milky Way) rises higher, making it more prominent, but the Winter Milky Way starts to sink lower toward the horizon, making the full arch harder to frame.

• Above 45°N, the Winter Milky Way is higher, but the Galactic Center remains lower on the horizon, sometimes obscured by atmospheric haze or terrain.

• 35°N to 45°N offers the best of both worlds—the Winter Milky Way remains high enough to be well-defined, and the Galactic Center rises enough before dawn to be fully visible.

My shooting location in Zermatt, Switzerland (3,200m altitude), is at approximately 46°N latitude. This is slightly above the “ideal” range, meaning the Winter Milky Way had good visibility, but the Summer Milky Way likely stayed lower on the horizon compared to locations further south. However, since I was at a high altitude, I had an advantage over lower-altitude locations at the same latitude, reducing atmospheric interference.

• The Winter Milky Way appears in the early evening and includes Orion, the Pleiades, and the faint galactic band stretching across the sky. It’s more subtle and lacks the dense star clusters of summer.

• The Summer Milky Way emerges before dawn, showcasing the Galactic Center, the brightest and most detailed region of the Milky Way, filled with dust lanes, warm star colors, and nebulae.

Since these two arches are visible at different times, they cannot be captured simultaneously next to each other. Instead, the night must be divided into two phases—shooting the Winter Milky Way early in the night and waiting hours for the Summer Milky Way to rise.

Finding a location with a clear, dark sky in all directions is essential, as mountains or light pollution can interfere with the full arch. High altitude is also an advantage, minimizing atmospheric distortion and maximizing visibility.

This event is rarely captured because it requires staying outside all night, mostly in the cold, and precisely aligning multiple exposures into a seamless panorama. Here are two of my favorites captured by Dan and Mihail in the past couple of years:

The Shooting Process – Planning, Execution, and Challenges

The Night of the Shoot

On the night of the capture, temperatures dropped to -16°C to -17°C. There was no wind, which kept the air still, but it also meant the cold settled into everything—gear, clothing, and skin.

Despite wearing full winter expedition gear, the cold became difficult to handle after several hours. I tried to sleep for a couple hours in between both arches however, somehow my sleeping bag didn’t manage to warm me up enough to get some rest, which never happened before. And even though I was near the Gornergrat Observatory, I was completely alone.

The conditions, however, were almost perfect—clear skies for most of the night (some high clouds rolled in when I was shooting the winter MW), no atmospheric turbulence, and complete stillness. It was an exhausting process, but every minute counted to ensure the right exposures and making sure I had all the frames secured.

One of the biggest challenges that night—aside from the cold itself—was something I hadn’t anticipated: my star tracker struggling in the extreme temperatures.

This tracker had never failed me before. I had used it in Peru, Switzerland, and even in Zermatt just two weeks prior in similar conditions, with no issues. But that night, for some reason, the cold seemed to affect it more than usual. It took me 40 minutes just to get it aligned, something that normally takes minutes. Thankfully, I had started setting up early, so I didn’t miss anything critical—except for the fact that more high clouds were rolling in as I tried to get it working.

The real issue came later, around 4 a.m., when it was time to shoot the Summer Milky Way. The tracker wouldn’t turn on. I spent 20 minutes warming it in my hands, stuffing it inside my jacket, trying to get it back to life. Eventually, it powered up, but the battery drained from 65% to 20% almost instantly. My power bank was too cold to recharge it properly, and as I shot the second Milky Way arch, I was constantly juggling between 6% and 16% battery, just hoping it would last long enough to get the frames I needed.

There were plenty of moments when I thought, maybe this isn’t going to work, maybe I should just come back another time. But somehow, it worked out. That was a reminder that in conditions like this, it’s not just about keeping yourself warm—you also have to keep your gear alive.

Technical Details & Camera Settings

For this image, I used:

• Nikon Z6 (astro-modified) for the sky

• Nikon Z8 for the foreground

Landscape Panorama Settings:

• Focal length: 15.5mm (to include more foreground vertically)

• Exposure: 1/5s per frame

• Aperture: f/5

• ISO: 800

Milky Way Panorama Settings:

• Focal length: 20mm

• Exposure: 127 seconds per frame (tracked)

• Aperture: f/5.6

• ISO: 2500

The exact same settings were used for both the Winter and Summer Milky Way to ensure a clean blending

Since the Milky Way exposures were tracked to avoid star trails, the foreground had to be captured separately at dawn to maintain sharpness.

Blending Process – A Time Blend, Not a Composite

Many associate my work with composite photography, where different elements are combined as a creative and artistic choice. However, this image is a time blend, meaning everything remains pretty much exactly where it was captured in reality, just at different moments in time.

• The Winter Milky Way was shot early in the night (10-12pm)

• The Summer Milky Way was shot before sunrise (4-5.30am)

• The foreground was captured at dawn/nautical hour (even before blue hour) for the best clarity and natural balance with the sky (6-6.30am)

Unlike a composite, where elements are rearranged, a time blend preserves their real-world positions while merging exposures taken hours apart.

The Milky Way panoramas were stitched directly in PTGui, working with the RAW files without any pre-processing. Stitching the Winter Milky Way was more challenging, as it’s much fainter than the summer arch—I had to manually add reference points between frames to get proper alignment. Once the stitched RAW panoramas were ready, I brought them into Photoshop, where most of the work was done.

The first step was to blend everything into its proper position, aligning the sky with the landscape. I started by working on the Summer Milky Way, as it’s the one I’m most comfortable with—it’s a process I’ve done many times before. The Winter Milky Way was more challenging, as this was my first time editing a full winter arch. However, since both sky panels were captured with the same settings, same camera, and same processing workflow, the overall blending was straightforward, making it easy to maintain a harmonious look between them.

Once the sky was finalized—which was the longest part of the edit—I moved on to the landscape, which required surprisingly little work. The natural lighting from dawn helped balance the exposure, making the blending process smoother. Some final refinements were done in Lightroom, but most of the adjustments were handled directly in Photoshop.

In the end, the workflow was intensive but methodical—ensuring that the final image felt like one seamless moment in time, despite being captured over several hours.

The final image took about two days of post-processing and the original working file is around 35GB, making it the heaviest file I’ve ever created.

Tips for Capturing the Double Milky Way Arch (for the March 28th, 2025 window)

1. Choose the Right Location

• Look for minimal light pollution—the darker the skies, the better the results.

• Find a location with a full 360° view—any obstructions (mountains, buildings, or trees) will break the panoramic flow.

• Higher altitude is an advantage, reducing atmospheric haze and giving clearer star details.

2. Be at the Right Latitude

• This phenomenon is best photographed between 35°N and 45°N latitude, where both the Winter and Summer Milky Way arches remain well-positioned in the sky.

• If you’re north of 45°N, the Galactic Center may stay too low on the horizon.

• If you’re south of 35°N, the Winter Milky Way might be too low to properly frame the full arch.

3. Use the Right Equipment

• A full-frame camera with high ISO performance is ideal.

• An astro-modified camera will reveal more details in both arches of the Milky Way, especially in the winter one (e.g. with Orion).

• A star tracker is highly recommended—it allows for longer exposures and brings out better colors and contrast.

4. Frame Generously for Better Blending

• Include extra sky to the sides when shooting each arch separately—this will help with a smoother blend in post-processing.

• Capture more foreground than needed—having extra margin below will make stitching and aligning much easier.

5. Plan Your Shooting Workflow

• Divide the night into phases—Winter Milky Way first, Summer Milky Way later.

• Use a wide-angle lens (14mm–20mm) to ensure the full arch fits into the panorama or capture two rows if needed.

• Keep consistent settings between the two halves for seamless blending.

6. Prepare for the Cold

• Bring extra batteries—cold drains them fast.

• Use power banks for your star tracker to ensure it lasts through the night.

• Wear proper thermal clothing—if you’re uncomfortable, you won’t be able to focus properly on shooting.

7. Watch Out for the Time Change on March 30th

• If you’re planning to shoot from Saturday March 29th, to Sunday March 30th, be mindful that some countries will be switching to Daylight Saving Time that night.

• The time change happens at 2:00 AM, shifting forward by one hour—this could affect your timing if you’re not careful.

8. Post-Processing Considerations

• Stitching should be done in software like PTGui to align the arches accurately. For such complex panoramas, neither Lightroom nor Photoshop provided me with satisfactory results.

• Work on a natural transition between exposures in Photoshop to ensure consistency.

Once more, preparation is key. And with the right planning, the Double Milky Way Arch can be one of the most rewarding astrophotography projects to attempt!

A Deeper Look Into the Night Sky

As a little extra, I created a version of the image with annotations, mapping out some of the most recognizable constellations and celestial objects that appear in the sky that night. Beyond just the Milky Way arches, you can spot Orion, Antares, Polaris, Andromeda, and even Jupiter and Mars, each adding its own significance to the scene.

Often, when we look at an astro image, we focus on the larger structures such as the galactic core but there’s so much more hiding in plain sight. This version serves as a more educational take, helping to visualize what’s truly out there in the night sky.

Here’s the annotated version of the image, showcasing all the celestial details:

Special Thanks

A project like this isn’t just about the technical execution—it also relies on the support of those who help make it possible.

I want to extend my sincere thanks to Gornergrat Railway for assisting with logistics and making this vision a reality. Their help allowed me to access this incredible location, where I could focus entirely on the process of capturing and creating something unique.

I’d also like to thank my friend Dan Zafra at Capture the Atlas for the valuable exchanges we had about shooting the Double Milky Way Arch, from planning tips to post-processing insights. His input was very helpful.

Perseverance and Dealing with Uncertainties in Photography

This image was also another lesson in perseverance.

I had been monitoring the weather for days, and initially, Sunday to Monday looked like the best window. The night before, Saturday to Sunday, was forecasted to be cloudy, so I didn’t go. But after looking at the webcam images from home, Saturday night had been completely clear, and by the time I checked again for Sunday, the forecasts were getting worse and worse. More clouds were expected, especially during the crucial time for capturing the Summer Milky Way.

That’s when the doubts kicked in—was I making the right call? Spending a night out in the cold with almost no sleep isn’t exactly fun if you come back empty-handed. But I had already committed, so I figured I’d go and see for myself. Worst case, I’d try again at the end of the month.

In the end, only some light high clouds rolled in during the Winter Milky Way arch—something none of the forecasts had predicted. But by the time the Summer Milky Way rose, the sky was completely clear, which was a good surprise.

It was a reminder that planning helps, but in the end, you just have to go and take your chances. When I got home, I was completely exhausted and sick from the cold. For a moment, I wasn’t sure if the whole effort had been worth it. But now looking at the final image, it is clear: I’d do it all over again.

Hope you enjoyed this letter and see you in the next one,

Angel

P.S. – A Resource for Your Own Milky Way Photography

If you’re interested in refining your astrophotography post-processing, I recently released a set of presets designed specifically for Milky Way photography. You can still access them here:

Let me know if you try them out—I’d love to see what you create!