Press Releases‎ > ‎

A Close-up View of Earth from Mercury and Saturn

posted Jul 23, 2013, 3:01 AM by Abel Mendez   [ updated Jul 23, 2013, 3:09 AM ]
The 'Bright Blue Marble' and the 'Pale Blue Dot' Together

Here are actual satellite images of Earth near the moment and the angle the pictures from Cassini and Messenger were taken from Saturn and Mercury on the Day the Earth Smiled, respectively. High resolution black and white images from the GOES East and Meteosat meteorological satellites were combined with color information from NASA Visible Earth to generate true-color images. Check here for additional details.


Figure 1. Earth taken from orbit and from Saturn on the Day the Earth Smiled (July 19, 2013). Earth from orbit is shown with a little more illuminated area at the moment of the Cassini picture from Saturn. The Moon is also visible to the right of Earth in the image from Saturn. Earth was visible to the naked-eye (+1.9 magnitude) as a dim star at the moment the image was taken from Saturn. This figure makes references to the iconic 'Blue Marble' and 'Pale Blue Dot' images of Earth from space. Credit: PHL @ UPR Arecibo, NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute, NERC Satellite Station, Dundee University, Scotland.


Figure 2. Earth taken from orbit and from Mercury on the Day the Earth Smiled (July 19, 2013). Earth from orbit is shown with almost exactly the area and illumination at the moment of the Messenger picture from Mercury. The Moon is also visible to the right of Earth in the image from Mercury. Earth was as bright (-4.8 magnitude) as the maximum brightness of Venus at the moment the image was taken from Mercury. This figure makes references to the iconic 'Blue Marble' and 'Pale Blue Dot' images of Earth from space. Credit: PHL @ UPR Arecibo, NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington, NERC Satellite Station, Dundee University, Scotland.


Figure 3. On July 19, 2013 the NASA Cassini and Messenger spacecrafts took pictures of Earth from Saturn and Mercury, respectively. These photos provide some context as to the approximate appearance of Earth during these pictures as seen from geostationary weather satellites. Click image for larger version. Credit: PHL @ UPR Arecibo, NASA, NERC Satellite Station, Dundee University, Scotland.


Figure 4. Earth from the geostationary weather satellite GOES East on July 19, 2013 at 5 PM EST - 2 PM EDT (21 UTC). Click for high resolution version. Credit: PHL @ UPR Arecibo, NASA, NERC Satellite Station, Dundee University, Scotland.


Figure 5. Earth from the geostationary weather satellite GOES East on July 19, 2013 at 5 PM EST - 2 PM EDT (21 UTC). Click for high resolution version. Credit: PHL @ UPR Arecibo, NASA, NERC Satellite Station, Dundee University, Scotland.