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In the shadow of Saturn: NASA's Cassini drifted in giant planet's shadow for about 12 hours in 2006 and looked back toward the eclipsed Sun (i.imgur.com)

submitted ago by mepper

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[–]thoriginal 52 points53 points ago

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Helllloooo new desktop image.

[–]joedogg 2 points3 points ago

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Totally did that myself.

[–]efrank02 0 points1 point ago

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this has been my desktop image for the last 3 months...

damnit, I'm a saturn hipster

[–]Autodidact2 0 points1 point ago

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Me three.

[–]classicdms 24 points25 points ago

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The blue dot in the left side of the rings is Earth.

[–]Purdy14 5 points6 points ago

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You might want to be a little more precise on that, it's the object just on the inside of the 2 most visible outer ring, on the left hand side of the picture.. source: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060927.html

[–]sean85 3 points4 points ago

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Which one?

[–]Bagshaft 43 points44 points ago

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The one we live on duh.

[–][deleted] -1 points0 points ago

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Good, because Earth 2 was a terrible show.

[–]totalbollocks 10 points11 points ago

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I'll stand outside and wave so you can see it better....... Can you see me now?

[–]Jabbaland 6 points7 points ago

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Are you wearing the yellow shirt?

[–][deleted] 16 points17 points ago

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iirc it is this one http://i.imgur.com/i36bR.jpg

[–]Volsunga -4 points-3 points ago

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I don't think that's right. It's probably one of the moons. If Earth were at an angle from which it could reflect light back to the camera, it'd be out of frame.

[–]jonplant 6 points7 points ago

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It is right. Carolyn Porco, who was the head of the imaging team for Cassini brings this out whenever she lectures, comparing it in significance to the first images of Earth taken from space. Here she is talking about the image.

[–]elucify -1 points0 points ago

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Man I'm glad I was never a girl having to go through middle school with a name like Porco. (Maybe not her name then?)

[–]jacenat 13 points14 points ago

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http://i.imgur.com/JnQpY.jpg

With added arrow and "you are here" text. You can thank Rafael later.

[–]stvenkman420 0 points1 point ago

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OK, this is now my new wallpaper :)

[–]darksabrelord 9 points10 points ago

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More incredible pictures from the Boston Globe's Big Picture series

[–]totalbollocks 2 points3 points ago

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THATS NO MOON!

[–]Saint1 5 points6 points ago

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To think that sight has been happening for millions of years and we just got to see it.

[–]Scorp63 3 points4 points ago

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drifted in giant planet's shadow

You mean Saturn's?

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point ago

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Nope: Rosie O'Donnell.

[–]FinKM 6 points7 points ago

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Wow, that almost looks unreal. Surprised this hasn't been posted before!

[–]dalgeek 4 points5 points ago

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I had to check the source to make sure it sure it wasn't a CGI render. The universe never ceases to amaze.

[–]latticusnon 2 points3 points ago

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Well I believe it has been edited to add color and clarity.

[–]DivinusVox 2 points3 points ago

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It has been. Many, many times. It's Cassini's most iconic image.

[–][deleted] ago*

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[deleted]

[–]Humpa 1 point2 points ago

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"F ring", it's called that? I mean... Thank God Uranus don't have any F rings.

[–]elucify 0 points1 point ago

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Maybe yours doesn't.

[–]Turco-Bangalore 1 point2 points ago

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The top ring/line on Saturn throws me off because it doesn't match up with the other rings. Can anyone explain this?

[–]stalleddit 0 points1 point ago

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You might have to be more specific. If you're talking about the thin band of light around Saturn, that is the very top layer of its atmosphere refracting light from the sun behind it.

[–]Firesinis 0 points1 point ago

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No, he's obviously talking about the rings themselves. It almost looks like they break over and don't align properly on the part that's directly in front of the planet from your view. Heck, it even looks like they pass behind Saturn.

[–]stalleddit 0 points1 point ago

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Oh I see what you're saying. Some of the rings only show up through refraction as they are almost transparent ice particles. They glow because of the light from the sun but don't really block much light out. When they are in the shadow of the planet they essentially disappear.

[–]Firesinis 0 points1 point ago

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Thank you. I suspected this was the explanation, but wasn't sure.

[–]smallflux 1 point2 points ago

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Bad Astronomy has a lovely write-up of this picture in its Top Ten Astronomy Images of 2006

Needless to say this picture is #1 and is still my favourite picture ever taken.

[–]springyard 1 point2 points ago

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Is this in visible light? This is what Saturn looks like from behind (not directly) as seen by voyager in visible light. http://i.imgur.com/IjyvV.jpg

The shadow of the planet blackens out the rings, which is missing in this picture. Is this a composite image or just something that looks nice?

[–]fullofpudding 1 point2 points ago

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this cant be real...

[–]Cabe6403 0 points1 point ago

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Wow, what an incredible picture. It doesn't even look real

[–]zefen 0 points1 point ago

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It looks so grand.

[–]quadrasauck 0 points1 point ago

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Is this the origin of the Pale Blue Dot thing? Or is that a different image.

[–]yeebok 1 point2 points ago

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That one is a very different image "the" pale blue dot picture was taken of Earth by Voyager, waaaay back in 1990. Basically the pale blue dot picture is the most distant picture mankind has ever taken of home.

Carl Sagan used it poetically which is probably why it's so well known.

Per Google .. Best guess for Voyager 1 Launch Date is September 5, 1977 so it had been in transit - heading from Earth faster than anything man had ever created. This is the wikipedia article on it : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_Blue_Dot This is the image, with added text. http://tinyurl.com/ycon376

A generic summary is here : The Pale Blue Dot was taken when the Voyager 1 spacecraft reached the edge of the solar system, 12 years after its launch and travelling at 40,000 miles per hour (64,000 km/h) at a record distance of about 6 billion kilometers. On February 14, 1990, having completed its primary mission, the spacecraft was commanded by NASA to turn around and photograph the planets of the Solar System. The NASA imaging team photographed the outer planets first because they were worried that pointing the camera near the sun would blind the spacecraft's cameras and prevent more pictures from being taken. Between February 14, 1990 and June 6, 1990, Voyager 1 returned 60 frames back to earth, which were stored in an on-board tape recorder after being taken. One of the pictures returned was of Earth showing up as a pale blue dot in the grainy photograph

[–]NeverStopPosting 0 points1 point ago

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Looks great, let's try to ignite it like we tried with Jupiter.

[–]Swinly 0 points1 point ago

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Still the most beautiful photo I have ever seen.

[–]_bar 0 points1 point ago

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You can even see some stars in this picture :)

The brightest one is Deneb Algedi, left to Earth. On the right, Algedi (Alpha Capricorni) can be seen, a nice naked-eye double star.

[–]Marzipan_Brain 1 point2 points ago

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I posted this ~2 months ago and got a whole 9 upvotes. I clearly had a rubbish title and the addition of the arrow didn't help. Anyways I was shown the picture in a lecture given by Carl Murray who was part of the Cassini Mission. Amazing lecture.

[–]carpeggio 0 points1 point ago

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That is stunning. I literally had to pick my jaw off the floor. I can only imagine what a sky full of illuminated rings would look like from a human eye.

[–]stop_juststop 8 points9 points ago

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Literally?!! Ouch!

[–]FuckinWalkinParadox 0 points1 point ago

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am i the only one that thinks this is wicked bullshit? the source is reliable i guess, so apparently it's real, but it looks fake as fuck.

[–]kdoughboy 0 points1 point ago

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Space is fucking awesome.

[–]jonplant 0 points1 point ago

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Carolyn Porco, who was the head of the imaging team for Cassini brings this out whenever she lectures, comparing it in significance to the first images of Earth taken from space. Here she is talking about the image.

[–]kasmith2020 0 points1 point ago

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One of my favorite pictures!

[–]Wr3nch 0 points1 point ago

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The universe can be such a beautiful place sometimes. What an amazing sight and thank you for sharing!

[–]Aiconic 0 points1 point ago

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This has been my background for a long time. If anyone peaks an interest in space I have to show them. It really is beautiful.

[–]EvilTom 0 points1 point ago

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"If anyone's interest is piqued by the image," or "if it piques anyone's interest in space."

[–]SolusLoqui 0 points1 point ago

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That looks nothing like the Star Trek: TNG opening credits.

[–]CAINE36[!] -2 points-1 points ago

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Fake, it's a photoshop.

im just kidding

[–]DrFunkalot -1 points0 points ago

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You can see teh Earth in this pic.

[–][deleted] -1 points0 points ago

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I don't give upvotes often...

[–]Ikehitstina -2 points-1 points ago

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...and then someone photo shop'd a picture using that description.

[–]AbbyRatsoLee -2 points-1 points ago

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That's no Saturn. No hexagon, therefore not Saturn. That's obviously Mars or something.

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