Photo from Saturn

NASA's Cassini probe took its photo of Earth from Saturn on Friday, and it was released today, along with a few others.

I think I blinked, so I don't look great in it. I was having a bad hair day too.

But it is, I think, one of the best photos I've ever seen: impressive and scary and huge and tiny all at once. Here's a small version, with an arrow pointing out Earth.



And here's another photo of Earth and the Moon, taken by Messenger, which is in orbit around Mercury.



It's cool. But I think the shot from Saturn is more special, because having Saturn and the rings in the foreground gives you something of an idea (albeit wildly inadequate) of the scale and distance involved.

I don't think the Saturn shot will quite have the impact of Earthrise. But I think it kind of should: it shows Earth for what it is - something very small - and it's a remarkable technical achievement.

More detailed, higher quality shots will be assembled over the next few weeks, but I think this is an impressive start.

Here are a couple of articles.

Earth captured in rare photograph from Saturn spacecraft Cassini | Science | guardian.co.uk

 

The Mars mission is fantastic. I've really enjoyed watching the project as it developed. The stories this week about Mars' ancient atmosphere have been fascinating.

But Venera is amazing. We didn't see much of it when it was happening. At first, that was because I wasn't born, which obviously limited my ability to take in the news. But even in Britain, very little was reported about the achievements of Venera, presumably for political reasons. To be able to get through that atmosphere and get down onto what is pretty much the most inhospitable bit of solid ground in the solar system was an incredible achievement.