Saturn backlit, Earth from a billion miles away
This beautiful image of Saturn - backlit by the sun - was taken in 2006 by the Cassini spacecraft. Want to see Saturn with your own eyes? Try this article: Give me 5 minutes. I'll give you Saturn in 2008.
Favorite Saturn pictures.
Imagine the Cassini spacecraft drifting in darkness, submerged in the long shadow of Saturn, a shadow that extends more than a million miles outward into space.
Now further imagine, during that time, Cassini’s wide-angle camera busily taking 165 images, in order to create this wonderful image of Saturn backlit by the sun.
Cassini created this image in September, 2006 as it drifted for 12 hours in Saturn’s shadow. The spacecraft has been orbiting Saturn since 2004.
You’ll find the technical details of this image here
While obtaining this view of Saturn never before seen by human eyes, Cassini also detected two new faint rings for the planet.
But there’s something even more amazing here than new rings. Look in the upper right quadrant of the picture. See that little dot? That’s Earth.
This is our home world, seen from a distance of nearly a billion miles away … seen from the icy depths of the outer solar system.
Does Earth appear tiny in contrast to Saturn, and to the vastness of space itself? Yes.
And remember … you and I and everything we know are standing on the surface of that little dot in space.
More favorite Saturn pictures
Saturn’s cloudtops, viewed at an angle
A gas giant planet, rings and shadows
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Carl Sagan already said it :P
...hello DB – thank you for posting this remarkable backlit image of Saturn & Earth … how utterly beautiful… zee/fl
You’re welcome, Zee. It’s kind of you to leave a note, and we definitely appreciate hearing what people like to see.
This is definitely the coolest Saturn image I’ve seen in awhile. We’ve also got two others posted:
A gas giant planet, rings, shadows
Saturn’s cloudtops, viewed at an angle
This is also the best time of year to see Saturn. Here’s our article on how to spot it in the eastern sky every evening:
Give me 5 minutes. I’ll give you Saturn in 2007.
Great month for Saturn fans!
Thanks, Zee, for taking the time to leave a note.
D
God said it best and before anyone…Job 26:7
The top picture is REALLY pretty! The second one is okay…^^