NASA just proved through its Twitter handle just how small the Earth can be from Saturn. In this image, which was actually captured in 2013, the internet is now popping up, propelling space enthusiasts to euphoria. All this was only possible for the NASA-led Cassini mission. Read below to know all about the captured image
In a tweet, shared by the space agency via its microblogging site, it read: “In 2013, the Cassini spacecraft captured this wide-angle image of Saturn and some of its rings. That light blue dot just below the rings? That’s Earth from about 898 million miles (1.4 billion kilometers) away.” In layman’s terms, the image shared above provides a wide-angle view of Saturn’s beautiful rings with great detail. Another feature of the image is a light blue dot that shines in the background as it hangs in the cosmic dark.
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In 2013, the Cassini spacecraft captured this wide-angle view of Saturn and some of its rings. That light blue dot just below the rings? That’s Earth at a distance of about 898 million miles (1.4 billion kilometers). To discover @NASASolarSystem† pic.twitter.com/NlTxVXRANR
— NASA (@NASA) February 27, 2022
Cassini probe
Cassini-Huygens is an unmanned spacecraft sent to the planet Saturn and development for the same was flagged in the 1980s. It is NASA’s flagship mission and belongs to the probe to the planet Saturn. Cassini is the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and the first to enter orbit, and its mission will run as of April 2017. It has studied the planet and its many natural satellites since arriving there in 2004.
Cassini discovered during his probe that Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus hides a subterranean, salty ocean beneath its crust and could potentially support living microbes. Project scientists believe that because of such discoveries, textbooks on planetary science should be rewritten. The design includes a Saturn orbiter (Cassini) and a lander (Huygens) for the moon, Titan
Image source: Twitter