Astrophoto: Clouds Above, Clouds Below

By Nancy Atkinson - August 27, 2014 08:05 AM UTC | Observing

What a gorgeous view of the dusty cloud of the Milky Way arch hovering over clouds low on the horizon here on Earth! Fellow

NASA Solar System Ambassador

Greg Redfern took this image of our galactic center in the constellation Sagittarius.

"If you have dark skies look to the south to see this grand spectacle," Greg said via email. "It stretches across the entire sky."

Greg shot the image during the

Almost Heaven Star Party,

an annual astronomy event sponsored by the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club. The star party is held in Spruce Knob, West Virginia, which boasts the darkest skies in the mid-Atlantic region of the US.

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Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com