Stephen Li Photography

05/26/2026

A fun little comparison of the Trifid Nebula from my backyard in May 2025 with a widefield capture of the same region of space vs. the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's image a month later with the Simonyi Survey Telescope with the world largest camera sensor at 3.2 gigapixel CCD camera and the Hubble image from April 2026.

While the Hubble Space Telescope uses the Widefield Camera 3 (WFC3) made of two optical/ultraviolet CCDs with a near-infrared HgCdTe array. It is a monochrome setup that uses filters to connect light from Oxyge-III, Hydrogen-alpha and Sulfur-II
F502N (OII) @ 5nm, F656N (H-alpha) @ 10nm, F673N (SIII) @ 12nm to get these images.

It's interesting to note the differences and similarities with scientific instruments and modern day consumer grade equipment. My image was about 2 hours of data from my LA light polluted backyard at Bortle 9 with a second hand budget 2.5" Quadruplet Astrograph with a cooled color astronomy camera with 26 megapixel.

Rubin's image is a stack of 678 images with 7 hours of integration. My image is a stack of 22 images of 5 minutes with a total time of 1hr 55min. There was no info available on imaging time for the Hubble image but it was processed with the same astronomy software I use.

More at
https://www.instagram.com/astro626photos

Gear
Astro-Tech AT65EDQ Quadruplet Astrograph
OGMA AP26CC OSC Camera (Sony IMX571)
IDAS NBZ-II Dual Narrowband Filter
Proxisky UMi 17R with FRAM
Svbony SV165 40mm Guide Scope
ZWO ASI120MM MINI Guide Camera

EXIF
22x300 lights with calibration frames

Captured with NINA
Processed in PixInsight

05/22/2026

A special opportunity knocked when Mt. Wilson called me to offer me and my followers a deep discount to observe and image with the 60". Join me for a night under the stars of the iconic 60" for viewing and imaging!

05/06/2026

5/1/2026
There were three special guests at the Astro626 Orbiting Gallery (a mobile space that is part outreach and part art gallery) at the Monrovia Street Fair. I'm so grateful to have opportunities offered to expand in different ways.

Steven Lord, PhD, Senior Staff Scientist at Caltech for decades, had also worked for NASA, and the SETI Institute came by again after a year with his wife to see my new projects. It was a thrill to show him the asteroid photobomb in the Jellyfish Nebula image, comets 3i/ATLAS and C/2025 A6 Lemmon, and new processing techniques with other images, and share the back-and-forth nerdy details. I asked if he had opportunities for me to speak, since many have asked me to teach workshops and seminars. He said he may have some opportunities for kids soon.

Tom Mason, a telescope operator from Mt. Wilson Observatory, and his wife came to see my work after someone on a previous Friday mentioned she wanted to connect me with him. So the following day, Tom called me to offer me a private group viewing of the 60” and 100” at half price in June. If you’re interested in going with me, DM ASAP for details and payment. Very limited spots! Since I have not been to Mt. Wilson, this is an opportunity I should not pass up. He is also putting in a word for me at the Observatory to have me present my art and talk near the end of the year.

Bayanzaya Tuguldur AKA Zaya is an aerospace engineer at Planetary Utilities, a private space infrastructure company that focuses on building in-space systems to democratize access to orbit, primarily through its modular platform called Starkit, designed to support startups and space agencies in deploying products and services in space. She connected me to the CEO Johannes Gross, PhD, and CTO Robert Karban, who both had decades of combined experience working for NASA, JPL, ISS, ESO, and ALMA. They invited me to their Monrovia facility for a presentation and a tour the following Monday. I presented my slideshow presentation, after which they are in talks to recruit me for seminars, education, and student engagement.

Thanking God for these open doors!

05/05/2026

I need your vote on this art competition! 🙏🏼Thanks in advance!

Sharing Deep Sky Photos Of Self Taught Astrophotography Art Collection: -El Monte Backyard: Rending The Bortle 9 Veil In L.A. Is My Passion!

04/29/2026

Celebrating with the Los Angeles Astronomical Society on their 100th Centennial anniversary was very rewarding. Not only is it the largest amateur astronomy club in America, with 1,200 members, but it is also the longest continuously operating club in the western US. They host free public monthly star parties, lectures, and telescope building at the Griffith Observatory (now their 91st year), run the Garvey Ranch Observatory weekly on Wednesday nights, and host special events at Mt. Wilson and Silverlake, as well as a private observatory at the Steve Kufeld Astronomical Site (SKAS), a dark sky area in Lockwood Valley near Frazier Park. As a brand-new member, this was my first event with the LAAS.

Despite the brief light rain, the cloud party started with a special ceremony opened with remarks by:

LAAS President, Keith Armstrong, proclamations from: Council District 4 by Field Deputy Hannah Jaeger, representing Councilmember Nithya Raman, Monterey Park Proclamation and remarks by Mayor Elizabeth Yang, LA County Resolution and remarks by Assistant Field Deputy Brendan Hidalgo, representing Supervisor Kathryn Barger, presentation of Centennial Plaque and remarks by Griffith Observatory Director Dr. Krupp and closing remarks by LAAS Vice President and Centennial Committee Chair Laura-May Abron

Bonuses: VP Laura-May had emailed me a welcome on the day of the event, got one more reserved parking permit at the hilltop for me, which I did not expect to receive, given there were nearly 100 members with seniority. I felt like a VIP driving all the way up! Later, she gave me a shout-out in her speech, saying, “whether this is your first star party, Stephen, where are you? Or the one hundredth…” I raised my hand and didn’t want to draw any more attention to myself by speaking up.

Afterwards, while chatting with members, someone mentioned the man with the purple beanie played Tuvok, a Vulcan who serves as the ship's second officer, Chief of Security, and Chief Tactical Officer on Star Trek: Voyager, and so I went to say hi. Turns out it was no other than Tim Russ who also played the infamous role in Spaceballs, combing the desert… continues in comments

04/22/2026

April 16, 2026
It was Career Day at Lawndale High School, bordering Inglewood and Hawthorne. Steve Rappaport, CEO of the National High School Career Day Network, had once again invited me to speak as a photographer. Out of nearly 100 speakers, we were to give students realistic expectations, examples of day-to-day ops, etc., but more than that, for me, it included the niche of LA city astrophotography, how to run a business, plus the mindset of an artist and entrepreneur.

I was given three sessions as usual, although this time, I am the solo speaker. Not sharing the breakout sessions, I had the full 50 minutes where I was able to give an in-depth overview of my work. To start the slideshow, I played my artist bio and statement with an engaging, personalized theme music written for me by pro film and streaming service composer followed by detailed examinations of some of my selected works starting with a down to earth approach with the Comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon above the DTLA skyline, the Jellyfish Nebula photobombed by asteroid 2008 TT113 and Pillars of Creation inside the Eagle Nebula.

It was a lot of info in an hour. Not sure much the students were able to take in, but the team's emails made my day. The teacher told me in his own words:

"Stephen,

I just want to thank you again for sharing your amazing story with the students and myself yesterday. You gave us so many valuable examples of how a "hobby" can be taken much further if you apply dedication, curiosity and persistence to what you love to do anyway. And thank you especially for the print of the [astrtoid] (Jellyfish Nebula) and the background of how you teased the image out of the clues you found in the data [NASA's Small-Body Database Lookup], otherwise we'd never know that speck in the sky was anything other than just another star. Your talents in revealing what we all take for granted will be my lessons learned from your lecture.

I'll think of you the next time I'm driving at night on a dusty road in the fog and see another car's headlights [my description of nebulae] emerge: Could that be Stephen Li coming through another rabbit hole?

Best,
Pete McArthur
Lawndale High School
Digital Photography and Art"