Stephen Li Photography

The Ring at Big Bear Lake
TL;DR
Imaging The Ring Nebula in Big Bear Lake with the AT65EDQ vs the Mt. Wilson 60" with the same astronomy camera OGMA AP26CC for comparison: 420mm vs 24,000mm focal length.
That's 57x larger view than through my scope!

A week after the thrill of being given the opportunity to image through the historic 60" telescope at Mt. Wilson with my gear, I headed up to Big Bear Lake to a Men's Advance. I took my widefield 2 5" telescope with the same astronomy camera to capture the Ring Nebula for comparison.

Going in, I expected it to be very tiny if I could even capture it at all with only 420mm focal length at 11 minutes of data compared to 24,000mm from the 60" at 4 minutes but it would be interesting to see the difference. Beginning with the first image, it is the full image. Next, several images are cropped smaller and smaller to give a double zoom effect and end with the 60" and Hubble.

Gear
Astro-Tech AT65EDQ Quadruplet Astrograph
OGMA AP26CC OSC Camera (Sony IMX571)
Spectrum Ha & OIII 3nm Dual Narrowband Filter
Proxisky UMi 17R with FRAM
Svbony SV165 40mm Guide Scope
ZWO ASI120MM MINI Guide Camera

EXIF
4x120, 1x180 lights
No Calibration
Captured with NINA
Processed in PixInsight

In celebration of America's 250 years in exploring new frontiers, I present the North America Nebula in the constellation Cygnus. The nebula is part of a larger interstellar cloud of ionized hydrogen. Approximately 2,590 light-years from Earth, it covers an area in the sky more than four times the size of the full moon; nearly 90 light-years across. Illuminated by the Bajamar Star, a hot O-type star hidden behind the dark dust cloud L935e, the ionized Hydrogen-alpha and Oxygen-III gives off a red and blue glow.

Gear
Astro-Tech AT102ED Doublet Refractor w/ 0.8x Reducer/Flattener
OGMA AP26CC Cooled Color Astronomy Camera (Sony IMX571)
Scorpio 2" Ha+OIII 3nm Golden Dual Narrowband Filter
Proxisky UMi 17R with FRAM Telescope Mount
Svbony SV165 40mm Guide Scope
ZWO ASI120MM MINI Guide Camera
Remote Controlled through a Mini-PC
EXIF
100x300s, 22x180s light frames
Gain 100
Offset 100
Cooled to -10°C
Uncalibrated
Captured with NINA
Proceed in PixInsight

The Ring Nebula
June 13, 2026

TLDR: I captured this using the historic Mt. Wilson 60” George Hale telescope with my OGMA AP26CC cooled, color astronomy camera. Integrated 4 minutes of data using 30 sec exposures (Longer exposures were even blurrier with average to below average seeing and transparency of the sky. With poor skies, the white dwarf at the center was not visible and the larger nearby star was also blurry despite the best attempts on focusing.
https://www.instagram.com/astro626photos

Having an astrophotography art booth at the weekly Monrovia Street Fair, I’ve come across many interesting people and opportunities. Back in May, a lady mentioned to me she knows someone who works at Mt. Wilson and that she will tell him about how I capture deep space objects from my backyard in the heaviest light pollution under the Los Angeles skyline. The next day, Saturday, I got a call from Tom Mason, a Session Director and telescope operator, to go up with a private group to observe for a deeply discounted price. Since I have never been there and many at the street fair through the last 3 years were also surprised I've not been up, I jumped on this lifetime opportunity.

I asked him if I could connect my astronomy camera and gear to the telescope and he agreed with an exception since it is a historical instrument and that it is typically not allowed but he had the final say to let me try it out. The catch is that I can do astrophotography after everyone in the private group had looked through it for the night.

Tom and his wife came to my art booth the next Friday to check out my work and I was glad to show him my images. He seemed impressed enough that I knew what I was doing and I think that solidified his decision to let me image through the 60”.

With my astronomy camera, dual narrowband filter and my mini-pc to control it, it took 4 people to be able to get these images. Tom adjusted the 4” focuser and held my mini-pc, I held the screen with my left hand while the right hand controlled the mouse on my right thigh, someone held the keyboard inputting the exposure settings and John Fisanotti was operating the scope at the console. Continued in comment

The Hale Telescope at the Mount Wilson Observatory in the San Gabriel Mountains at 5,700ft is recognized as the second-largest telescope made exclusively for the public with the 60" in diameter mirror.

This historic instrument was originally unveiled in 1908 as the world’s largest operational telescope. It was discovered by astrophysicist George Ellery Hale, who identified the site in the San Gabriel Mountains in 1903. The telescope has been used for groundbreaking discoveries, including Harlow Shapley’s finding that the Sun is not at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.

This scope is the largest single primary mirror scope that sets the design standard for all to follow until the Keck Observatory almost a hundred years later (1993) that first began to use multiple smaller primary mirrors with active optics. This 60" is also the world's largest scope on an equatorial mount. It features a 4" focuser and eyepieces whereas standard consumer grade equivalents are typically 1.25" to 2"

Left, Tom Mason (invitor who called me, hosted and served as the Session Director, and center, John Fisanotti the telescope operator. Tom brought food and refreshments. His chicken was great and the phenomenal, famous brownies mentioned by the National Public Radio, KCRW and KQED are actually made by his wife.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astro626photos
Stay tuned for more from Mt. Wilson!

Last Chance to Shop Astro626Photos In-Person before Father's Day! But it's not for 2 weeks, you say! Read on...

Don't miss your final opportunity to explore and purchase stunning art from astro626photos at the Downey Night Market this Thursday, June 11, before Father's Day. It’s the perfect moment to find a unique and meaningful gift that speaks from the heart.

Can't make it on Thursday? No worries! Simply DM me to arrange a personal meetup and discuss specific pieces you have in mind. I’m here to help you find the perfect artwork that resonates with your style and sentiment.

I'll not be at my home base, the Monrovia Street Fair, on June 12th either due to accepting an invitation from a session director from Mt. Wilson to see the 60" telescope and will attempt to capture some images through it with my gear. All spots are called for and those followers who took up my offer should have received an email from Tom by now. If you have not, DM me.

Since so many of you were shocked to find out that I've not been there yet, I'm taking this rare opportunity to go.

I will also not be at the street fair the following Friday, June 19, as I'll be going on trip to Big Bear with a men's group. I'll bring my gear with me and see what I can capture with darker skies.

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