It was taken on February 14, 1990 and is considered one of the best satellite images in history.
The popular image of Earth taken by Voyager 1 was taken at a distance of 6 billion km.
In the astonishing record, it is possible to estimate a planet floating in the vast space. Astrophysicist Carl Sagan said this image shows a “pale blue dot”.
Indeed, the image was suggested by the astronomer himself. Together with scientist Caroline Porco – who worked on the development of Voyager 1 – Sagan suggested to NASA that the spacecraft make a “family photo” of the solar system.
The picture inspired a book by Sagan and became one of the most famous and influential books in the history of science.
“Look at that point again. This one is here. This is the house. This is us. Pale blue point: A vision of the human future in space,” the scientist wrote in his 1994 book.
“In it, everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you heard, every person who lived his life, lived his life there,” he added.
In 2020, to mark the 30th anniversary of this image, NASA – which sent the probe in 1977 – released a modified version of the iconic image, in which the tiny planet was seen crossing the sun’s rays.
With the passage of time, photography gained more importance, as it constitutes a unique and unpublished record of the time, and this has historically aided in our awareness of the place we occupy in space and the connection to our planet.
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