Long in pursuit of the extraordinary, the 48-year-old has witnessed beauty beyond Earth’s atmosphere – from dazzling star clusters to nebulae billions of km away.
His fascination with the cosmos began in his schooldays, when he was captivated by a deep-space image captured by the Hubble space telescope in 1995.
“I saw the image and thought, is this the edge of the universe? Fuelled by a burning curiosity, I found myself at the library, reading everything I could and even started buying books on space.
“But while I was already interested in stargazing back then, I could only do so with the naked eye as I couldn’t afford a telescope,” he told Bernama.
Upon entering the workforce, the engineering graduate vowed to set aside his salary to own a telescope and eventually bought one for RM300.
This allowed Hadli to catch his first glimpse of Saturn – an experience that deepened his fascination and spurred him to observe the night sky regularly.
“When I first saw Saturn, I could hardly believe it. I called my parents over to share the excitement and they, too, got to witness it firsthand. It brought me a deep sense of satisfaction.
“But the telescope didn’t offer very clear or satisfying views as it was a basic, low-powered model. After saving for another year, I was able to purchase a professional-grade telescope for RM3,000.”
The past five years have seen Hadli transition to a new passion, astrophotography: a specialised field dedicated to capturing images of celestial objects.
The father of four explained that astrophotography offers a far deeper experience than observing the sky with the naked eye or a standard telescope. Unlike fleeting visual sightings, captured images can be studied in detail and preserved for future reference.
His interest in this field began during pandemic lockdowns, when the extra free time allowed him to explore the activity. As he began capturing phenomena like star formation, his fascination grew and grew.
Creating a single satisfying image can take more than four hours, he revealed, from setting up equipment and aligning with the night sky to post-processing the final shot.
“For example, if I wanted to photograph a nebula, I would capture exposures lasting several minutes for each frame, then stack dozens or even hundreds of those images into one. The longer the exposure, the cleaner and sharper the result,” he explained.
He prefers carrying out his astronomical observations in paddy fields and coastal areas to avoid light pollution, one of the challenges he has to contend with. Another is unpredictable weather, which can disrupt observation sessions.
“There were three consecutive trips I made to Mersing where I couldn’t capture anything at all because the sky remained overcast the entire night.
“Imagine setting up all the equipment, waiting until midnight, only for the clouds to never move,” he recalled, disappointment still evident in his voice.
Hadli hopes to someday stargaze abroad, particularly in Thailand, which is known for its dark sky and comparatively stable weather conditions.