Astro 'Shop of the Week

By Nancy Atkinson - July 13, 2009 at 12:44 PM UTC | Site News
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We've got some extremely creative readers of Universe Today who really know their way around image editing software. One of those people is Alan Lipkin, who submitted his latest Photoshop handiwork to us, which he calls "Ballerina Galactica." Of course, you'll recognize the tutu as the Sombrero Galaxy and the backdrop as the Wild Duck Star Cluster. The big star and earring are both Sirius. Wonderful!

Alan's image gave me an idea: Why not have a regular feature where readers can submit astronomical images they have messed around with using image editing software? A few rules: the images submitted must be space or astronomy related and they must be in good taste. The images can be submitted to

Nancy here.

We're looking forward to seeing and sharing the creative side of our readers!

Nancy Atkinson

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