APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
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 one octillion Prochlorococcus .
| Date | September 27, 2006 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Credit: Cassini Imaging Team , SSI , JPL , ESA , NASA |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |



