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Hard to believe, but at the same time, just shows how small we are in the Universe.
http://www.ciclops.org/view_event/19...f_Planet_Earth
http://www.ciclops.org/view_event/19...f_Planet_Earth
Pictures of Earth from the outer solar system are rare because, from that distance, Earth is very close to the bright sun. Just as a human being can damage his or her retina by looking directly at the sun, a camera's sensitive detectors can be damaged by looking directly at the sun. Cassini was able to take these images because the sun had moved behind the planet Saturn from the spacecraft's point of view, blocking out most of the light.
In this rare image taken on July 19, 2013, Cassini's wide angle camera has captured Saturn's rings and our planet Earth and its Moon in the same frame. It is only 1 footprint in a mosaic of 33 footprints covering the entire Saturn ring system (including Saturn itself). At each footprint, images were taken in different spectral filters for a total of 323 images: some were taken for scientific purposes and some to produce a natural color mosaic. This is the only wide angle footprint that has the Earth/Moon system in it.
The dark side of Saturn, its bright limb, the main rings, the F ring, and the G and E rings are clearly seen; the limb of Saturn and the F ring are overexposed. The 'breaks' in the brightness of Saturn's limb are due to the shadows of the rings on the globe of Saturn, preventing sunlight from shining through the atmosphere in those regions. The E and G rings have been brightened for better visibility.
Earth, which is 898 million miles (1.44 billion kilometers) away in this image, appears as a blue dot at center right; the Moon can be seen as a fainter protrusion off its right side.
This is only the third time ever that Earth has been imaged from the outer solar system. The acquisition of this image, along with the accompanying narrow angle image of the Earth and the Moon and the full mosaic from which both are taken, marked the first time that inhabitants of Earth knew in advance that their planet was being imaged. That opportunity allowed people around the world to join together in social events to celebrate the occasion.
This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from about 20 degrees below the ringplane.
Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view. The images were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on July 19, 2013 at a distance of approximately 753,000 miles (1.212 million kilometers) from Saturn, and approximately 898.414 million miles (1.445858 billion kilometers)from Earth. Image scale on Saturn is 43 miles (69 kilometers) per pixel; image scale on the Earth is 53,820 miles (86,620 kilometers) per pixel. The illuminated areas of neither the Earth nor the Moon are resolved here. Consequently, the size of each `dot' is the same size that a point of light of comparable brightness would have in the wide angle camera.
Earth is the blue point of light on the left; the moon is fainter, white, and on the right. Both are seen here through the faint, diffuse E ring of Saturn. Earth was brighter than the estimated brightness used to calculate the narrow-angle camera exposure times. Hence, information derived from the wide-angle camera images was used to process this color composite.
Both Earth and the moon have been increased in brightness for easy visibility; in addition, brightness of the Moon has been increased relative to the Earth, and the brightness of the E ring has been increased as well.
In this rare image taken on July 19, 2013, Cassini's wide angle camera has captured Saturn's rings and our planet Earth and its Moon in the same frame. It is only 1 footprint in a mosaic of 33 footprints covering the entire Saturn ring system (including Saturn itself). At each footprint, images were taken in different spectral filters for a total of 323 images: some were taken for scientific purposes and some to produce a natural color mosaic. This is the only wide angle footprint that has the Earth/Moon system in it.
The dark side of Saturn, its bright limb, the main rings, the F ring, and the G and E rings are clearly seen; the limb of Saturn and the F ring are overexposed. The 'breaks' in the brightness of Saturn's limb are due to the shadows of the rings on the globe of Saturn, preventing sunlight from shining through the atmosphere in those regions. The E and G rings have been brightened for better visibility.
Earth, which is 898 million miles (1.44 billion kilometers) away in this image, appears as a blue dot at center right; the Moon can be seen as a fainter protrusion off its right side.
This is only the third time ever that Earth has been imaged from the outer solar system. The acquisition of this image, along with the accompanying narrow angle image of the Earth and the Moon and the full mosaic from which both are taken, marked the first time that inhabitants of Earth knew in advance that their planet was being imaged. That opportunity allowed people around the world to join together in social events to celebrate the occasion.
This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from about 20 degrees below the ringplane.
Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view. The images were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on July 19, 2013 at a distance of approximately 753,000 miles (1.212 million kilometers) from Saturn, and approximately 898.414 million miles (1.445858 billion kilometers)from Earth. Image scale on Saturn is 43 miles (69 kilometers) per pixel; image scale on the Earth is 53,820 miles (86,620 kilometers) per pixel. The illuminated areas of neither the Earth nor the Moon are resolved here. Consequently, the size of each `dot' is the same size that a point of light of comparable brightness would have in the wide angle camera.
Earth is the blue point of light on the left; the moon is fainter, white, and on the right. Both are seen here through the faint, diffuse E ring of Saturn. Earth was brighter than the estimated brightness used to calculate the narrow-angle camera exposure times. Hence, information derived from the wide-angle camera images was used to process this color composite.
Both Earth and the moon have been increased in brightness for easy visibility; in addition, brightness of the Moon has been increased relative to the Earth, and the brightness of the E ring has been increased as well.
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