HAL Member Image of the Month
The HAL Image of the Month (IOTM) [ a.k.a. Object of the Month (OOTM) ] is selected by HAL’s Board and/or HAL’s Discord members as the best of the given month’s submissions among those who imaged and processed an astronomical object.
April 2025 Image of The Month, “Our Sun, March 25th, 2025”
Phil Whitebloom
March 2025 Image of The Month, “Blood Moon” Total Lunar Eclipse
James Willinghan
Total Lunar Eclipse taken from Elkins, WV on March 14th, 2025 with Canon T7i through Williams Optics 132mm refractor telescope.
The right image was taken mid-eclipse at 0714UT. The reddish “blood moon” effect is caused by light being refracted through the earth’s atmosphere (with most of the blue light being scattered) similar to why we experience red sunsets.
The left image, taken at at 0625UT, shows the “Japanese Lantern Effect” which is noticeable just before and after the total eclipse. The blueish tint is due to light passing through the upper stratosphere where the ozone layer absorbs a larger fraction of the red light.
February, 2025 Image of The Month, SH 2-308, The Dolphin Head Nebula
Jim Johnson
- object: The Dolphin Nebula
- imaged by: Jim Johnson
- image capture/processing details:
The Dolphin Nebula (SH 2-308) – HOO Palette
Tele Vue NP101is/ZWO ASI6200MM-P
Scout Key, FL (Winter Star Party 2025), Bortle 3
Ha 20 x 600s = 3:20
OIII 26 x 600s = 4:20
Total integration: 7:40
May 2024 OOTM was M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy.
Jared Case
- object: Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)
- imaged by: Jared Case
- image capture/processing details: Captured with a 130mm Refractor, at 737mm focal length. The camera was a monochrome 2600MC.
- Red : 1hr 15min @ 180s
- Blue : 1hr 15min @ 180s
- Green: 1hr 15min @ 180s
- HA : 2hrs 4min @ 240s
- Lum: 4hrs 40min @ 180s
- location: Highland, MD
- date: May 2024
April 2024 OOTM was the North American Total Solar Eclipse.
Gene Handler
- object: Total Solar Eclipse
- imaged by: Gene Handler
- image capture/processing details: Totality from Arkansas. This is a stack of 150 x 1/30s + 43 x 1/4000s exposures through an 8″ f/4 reflector. (re-uploaded w/ slight crop)
- location: Arkansas
- date: April 8, 2024
June/July 2023 OOTM was the Veil Nebula
- Object: Eastern Veil Nebula, NGC 6995
- Imaged by: Ken Everhart
- Image capture/processing details: see image
- Location: Hanover, MD
- Date: July 2023
August 2023 OOTM was objects within the constellation Cygnus.
- Object: Crescent Nebula
- Imaged by: Ken Everhart
- Image capture/processing details: see image
- Location: Hanover, MD and Alpha Ridge Park
- Date: August 2023
September 2023 OOTM was Elephant’s Trunk Nebula.
- Object: Elephant’s Trunk Nebula, IC 1396
- Imaged by: Jared Case
- Image capture/processing details: The image is a combination of Ha, Sii, and O3 data combined in SHO; over 16 hours of data. Shot with a monochrome ZWO 2600MM and a 130mm Refractor.
- Location: Highlands, MD
- Date: Three nights in September 2023
October 2023 OOTM was Lion Nebula (Sh2-132).
- Object: Lion Nebula (Sh2-132)
- Imaged by: Jared Case
- Image capture/processing details: 350mm Refractor and 2600MC camera. Over 8 hours of integration; processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop.
- Location: Highland, MD
- Date: October/November 2023
- Notes: Sharpless 132 is primarily an emission nebula and is estimated to be roughly 10,000 light-years away in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. It is located in the southern portion of the constellation Cepheus, bordering the constellation Lacerta.
January / February 2024 OOTM was the Jellyfish Nebula (IC 443).
TIE: Bennie Palmer and Lee Amos
- object: Jellyfish Nebula (IC 443), a galactic supernova remnant in the constellation Gemini.
- imaged by: Bennie Palmer
- image capture/processing details: captured for 19.5 hr in narrowband filters and is presented as an SOH mapping onto the RGB pallet. Using an Astrotech 130 refractor setup as f7 with a focal length of 980mm with a 0.80 focal reducer. An ASI2600mm mono camera was used and controlled by an ASIAIR plus on an iOptron CEM70 equatorial mount guided by an ASI174 off axis. Processed in Siril on an iMac with lots of fun discovering the filaments, structure and colors of this enjoyable target.
- location: Ellicott City, MD
- date: Jan/Feb 2024
- object: Jellyfish Nebula (IC 443), a galactic supernova remnant in the constellation Gemini.
- imaged by: Lee Amos
- image capture/processing details: Redcat 71 telescope @ 350mm. Captured with a ASI2600MC color camera with Askar D1 (Ha & Oiii) and D2 (Sii & Oiii) 6nm dual band filters. 15hrs 10mins total integration time. Processed in SHO palette using SIril and Photoshop.
- location: Mount Airy, MD
- date: Jan/Feb 2024