APOD: 2006 September 27- Earth from Saturn
Explanation:
What's that pale blue dot in this image taken from Saturn?
Earth.
The
robotic Cassini spacecraft
looked back toward its old home world earlier this month as it orbited
Saturn.
Using Saturn itself to block the
bright Sun,
Cassini imaged a faint dot on the right of the
above photograph.
That dot is expanded on the image inset, where a slight elongation in the direction
of
Earth's Moon is
visible.
Vast water oceans make Earth's reflection of sunlight
somewhat
blue.
Earth is home to
over six billion humans
and over 100
octillion
Prochlorococcus.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
