Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Space

NASA to take a photo of the Earth from Saturn

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft will seize a rare opportunity to image the whole Saturn system and the Earth next month.

Image: NASA

NASA’S CASSINI SPACECRAFT, which is currently exploring Saturn, is to take a picture of Earth from a distance of hundreds of millions of miles next month.

The US space agency said our home planet will  look like a pale blue dot between the rings of Saturn in the image, and will form part of a multi-image portrait of the Saturn system.

“While Earth will be only about a pixel in size from Cassini’s vantage point 898 million [1.44 billion kilometers] away, the team is looking forward to giving the world a chance to see what their home looks like from Saturn,” said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “We hope you’ll join us in waving at Saturn from Earth, so we can commemorate this special opportunity.”

The spacecraft is due to begin collecting images on 19 July over a 15 minute period, during a point when North America and part of the Atlantic Ocean will be in sunlight.

Cassini has taken two other mosaic pictures of Earth, once in 2006 and another time in 2012, but this one will be the first to show our planet in it’s natural colour – just as human eyes would see it.  It also will be the first to capture Earth and its moon with Cassini’s highest-resolution camera.

Read: These people are NASA’s eight new astronauts
Read: Ayers Rock, the Andes and the Bahamas – as seen from space
Read: Commander Chris Hadfield got an award for tweeting as Gaeilge

Your Voice
Readers Comments
24
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.