Nature Photography Archives -

Spiraling Star Dust

By Simone Lipscomb | March 23, 2025

I laid on the porch, gazing into the clear sky, as Orion slowly moved across the sky. In another area of the immenseness of space, my little smart telescope took 10 second exposures for 1 ½ hours of a small section of Ursa Major known as M 81 or Bode’s Galaxy.

The stars seemed to enhance the stillness of the evening as I allowed my mind to wander through constellations and galaxies. All chaos of the external world dropped away and the ‘I’ slowly dissolved into the vastness of the heavens.

I’m finding the night sky my haven, my place of refuge and safety, during these times of social discord and unrest. This quote I came up with sums it up for me:

The image I see on my iPhone–as the telescope works its magic–is below, but what I see when I look into the night sky is pure awe sprinkled with the stardust of Oneness.

If you want to know how the Hubble telescope sees in the M81 galaxy…..

M 81 is 11.6 million light years away and is a 6.9 magnitude spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. In the center is a black hole 70 million times the mass of the Sun. This image taken by Hubble uses visible light and infrared light. Ultraviolet light from hot, young stars is fluorescing the clouds of hydrogen gas. M 81 is 15 times the mass of the Milky Way, our home galaxy. Thanks to NASA for the information and image.

My images won’t be perfect. I do very little post-processing because I want more moments under the sky and less hours in front of a computer. Some amateur astrophotographers devote hours to stacking, color correcting and come up with lovely images and that’s their bliss. I’m super-grateful there are those who choose to push the boundaries of software and computers to show us even more beauty. I’ll just sit outside as long as I can with a far-away look in my eyes and an open heart to the magnificence of the Universe. That’s my bliss.

The 1.15am Alarm

By Simone Lipscomb | March 22, 2025

Cloudy conditions were present when I went to bed, but my Atmospheric app insisted that by the time the lunar eclipse started, the sky would be clear. With complete trust, I set the alarm on my iPhone for 1.15am.

When said alarm gently awakened me, there was some grumbling perhaps akin to that of a black bear awakening in the spring. But I put on warm clothes and fleece-lined slippers and grabbed the telescope case and heavy tripod I left by the front door. The dogs joined me but only the hound decided to remain a faithful guard against mice rustling in the leaves of the woods or ‘possums ambling around outside the fence. My Buddy dog child returned to his warm bed inside the house.

The app was right. The sky was crystal clear and beautiful. The eclipse was already in process as I set up and fussed with the smart telescope a bit. It can be a bit sassy when I’m trying to hurriedly set up. There are always lessons in patience in astronomy.

***Screen shot of what I see with the iPhone app while using the telescope***

The Earth’s shadow gradually covered the full Moon and in that space of time, I became more joyful and filled with awe, a side-effect of watching objects in the night sky.

The end result was not only the beautiful, red color generated from the dance of the Moon and Earth. Millions of people came together in time and space to witness this wonder of Nature. In this time of chaos and conflict, that was perhaps a true miracle.

Stillness

By Simone Lipscomb | February 5, 2025

***Telescope and the Orion Constellation***

I was sitting under a blanket of stars last night. The milder winter temperature made it pleasant. The waxing crescent moon wasn’t too bright, so I could observe stars, and the moon gave enough light to see the gray shadows of rocks and trees.

Since playing with a smart telescope begin in December, I’ve learned the art of stillness. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say I am learning the art of stillness. Taking an image of a far-away galaxy or nebula takes a while. Sometimes hours…but I’ve only done a 31 minute exposure thus far. There’s so much I want to see out there in the Universe so staying on one object for more than half an hour is challenging.

And I don’t want to go back inside the house while the telescope patiently records the stacks of images. Otherwise I could just rent telescope time from some far-away observatory while I sit in my home drinking hot cocoa and eating scones (as if I could afford that….but people do that…the renting telescope time, not eating scones and drinking hot cocoa). I want the experience of stargazing from underneath the sky, not my roof. The images are part of it, but the experience of awe under night skies…that’s my kick.

I always sense trees I connect with while hiking ‘say’…why are humans always in such a hurry…slow down and listen. I pause and stand with them, but rarely sit and ‘listen’ for more than a few minutes.

Last night, I realized I was receiving the same message from the stars. So, I set up shots with the telescope, made sure it was working correctly by viewing it on my phone, and then placed my phone down on the ground under the tripod and watched the stars move ever-so-slowly across the sky.

Thirty minutes is a long time to sit and observe an image come into being. I’ll be honest, five minutes is a long time if you are used to being active person. Stargazing is helping me learn to slow down and operate from a different speed.

My assignment is watching the stars move across the sky. Literally. Tracking stars reminds me that even the slowest, almost imperceivable movement is still movement and progress is being made. These experiences help connect me to deep time, that vast expanse of cosmic time, and that helps me move beyond the trappings of the chaos happening now in our world.

My growing edge is to embrace stillness…wherever I find myself. If possible, put my bare feet on the ground and connect directly to Her. Our Mother. Our Home.

Open the Door

By Simone Lipscomb | January 4, 2025

I was a bit overzealous in piling the incense blend I made onto the glowing charcoal. My home filled with the sweet smoke, which is awesome. But I was concerned it would cause the smoke detectors to start blaring, which would make my dogs lose their minds…not so awesome.

It was 26 degrees outside, but the wood stove had us nice and toasty. I opened the back door to allow some of the smoke to escape.

Sunlight was streaming in at the exact right angle from the high window. The smoke turned into a living, breathing thing as it slowly drifted out the door, wafting towards the brisk air and open space.

I considered how our thoughts are like smoke. They go out into the world, creeping along, harming or healing.

What we think about and dwell on grows. Ponder wisely, the smoke said, as it meandered out the door. Sometimes it’s good to open the door of our mind and let thoughts go.

The Twelve Hikes Challenge

By Simone Lipscomb | January 1, 2025

Over the course of 12 days away from work, I finished a goal I set to hike each day. I called my self-challenge, The Twelve Hikes of Christmas. Over the course of this time, I hiked a total of 57.63 miles and had an elevation gain of 9302 feet. No records, but that wasn’t the reason I did this.

I chose a word to describe each hike and this is what I ended up with, in order: Celebration, Foundation, Challenge, Beauty, Fun, Recovery, Reconnection, Adventure, Solitude, Expansive, Grief, Peaceful.

The overall takeaways from the challenge were: Setting goals helps me maintain momentum; Nature is the ultimate ‘everything’ for me; being able to adapt to changes brings joy.

I hiked easy trails, icy trails, challenging trails. I saw devastating loss of grandmother trees. Every experience was valued.

As I hiked, I worked on getting clear on my path forward and how I want to contribute to raising of consciousness on the planet. But mostly, I simply enjoyed being outdoors in places of amazing beauty.

High winds or icy conditions on the road through the national park hindered some hikes I envisioned doing. I didn’t get to hike a favorite trail I really wanted to hike. The one day I could have, I chose a new trail and found it might be a new favorite. Moving forward in life, I was reminded to trust my intuition and how things come together. It will be exactly what I need and want.

I have been in a magical world of Nature for 12 days, so the next challenge is to stay peaceful and grounded as I move back into the muggle world of a ‘job.’ Prior to my time off, I was struggling to go outside and walk after eight-hour work days. I need to prioritize going outside each day and enjoying Nature, no matter what. This is vital for my wellbeing.

Day	Date	Location	Word	Elevation Gain	Mileage
1	Dec 21	Oconaluftee River Trail	Celebration	52 feet	3.26 miles
2	Dec 22	Deep Creek	Foundation	243 feet	3.51 miles
3	Dec 23	Lonesome Pine	Challenge	2454 feet	6.88 miles
4	Dec 24	Ramsey Cascades	Beauty	2323 feet	7.95 miles
5	Dec 25	Jump Off—AT	Fun	1588 feet	6.55 miles
6	Dec 26	Oconaluftee River Trail	Recovery	46 feet	3.28 miles
7	Dec 27	Bradley Fork—Hitching Post Falls	Reconnection	466 feet	5.87 miles
8	Dec 28	Deep Creek/Indian Creek	Adventure	715 feet	8.02 miles
9	Dec 29	Oconaluftee River/Blue Ridge Parkway	Solitude	194 feet	3.11 miles
10	Dec 30	Williams Pulpit Bartram Trail	Expansive	1093 feet	4.12 miles
11	Dec 31	Asheville Botanical Gardens	Grief	102 feet	1.2 miles
12	Jan 1	Kituwah	Peaceful	26 feet	3.88 miles