Some exoplanets are as large as Jupiter and whiz around their star in under a week. Some exoplanets orbit one star like us, while some orbit two stars, maybe even three some exoplanets are rocky, while some are made of gas. These are whole other worlds, with each their own history.

In 2004, we took our first-ever image of an exoplanet, or a planet that orbits another star beyond our solar system. Our planet seems a bit less lonely in the shadow of a gas giant.īut Earth isn’t the only planet we’ve seen from afar. In the 33 years since the Pale Blue Dot image was taken, we’ve traveled back to the outer solar system and snapped another photo: the Cassini spacecraft’s image of backlit Saturn, where Earth hangs out beneath clean-cut rings. Earth appeared smaller than a single pixel, awash in camera-bent sunlight, surrounded by nothing but empty space and optic noise.Ģ020 remastered version of the “Pale Blue Dot” image, taken by Voyager 1 When they were finally sent, the signals rushed back at the speed of light, but still took 5.5 hours to reach home. Space scientists Candy Hansen and Carolyn Porco developed the commands and calculated the exposure time, making for awe-inspiring views on February 14th… which were then saved to an on-board tape recorder and sent back to Earth from March through April. The Pale Blue Dot was the first image of Earth we’d ever taken from the outer solar system, and the last series of images Voyager 1 ever took.

Carl Sagan dubbed this view of our planet “The Pale Blue Dot,” and his speech says more about our place in the universe than I could ever hope to convey.īut I’m going to try anyway-by taking you on a little journey through planetary portraits. On February 14th, 1990, the spacecraft Voyager 1 snapped an image of Earth from over 3 billion miles away. Read more below about the romance of space and pictures of faraway planets! Today is also the anniversary of the “Pale Blue Dot” image-a portrait of Earth from 3 billion miles away. Valentine’s Day may bring to mind hot-pink hearts, purple chocolate boxes, and red rose bouquets… but why not tinge it with a bit of blue?

Pale blue dot