Next time you are aboard at night, stare up into the heavens and think about the Pale Blue Dot >>>

[1911tex]

This excerpt, taken from Carl Sagan's book Pale Blue Dot (1994), was inspired by an image taken, at Sagan's suggestion, by Voyager 1 on Feb 14, 1990.
From a distance of about 3 billion miles, Voyager 1, which had completed its primary mission and was leaving our Solar System, was commanded by NASA, following Carl Sagan's request, to turn its camera around and take one last photo of Earth across the great expanse of space. The video below is the result....unforgettable!

 

[Christian Williams]

Voyager 1's Pale Blue Dot | NASA Solar System Exploration

The Pale Blue Dot is a photograph of Earth taken Feb. 14, 1990, by NASA’s Voyager 1 when it was 3.7 billion miles (6 billion kilometers) from the Sun.

solarsystem.nasa.gov

 

[1911tex]

Here is the incredible video...finally !

 

[Christian Williams]

If the video is on line for the public anywhere, you can publish the link. If you have only a download of the video, you could upload it to Vimeo or YouTube and then provide the link here (both are free).

 

[Geoff W.]

Another classic:

 

[Kenneth K]

Another classic:

I could subconsciously hear the old Bell & Howell reel-to-reel projector clicking away and "see" the analog photo frames whirring by in the 'filmstrip'....

Not to get political, but it reminds me of the old argument on our inability to comprehend (in any practical way) higher orders of magnitude; like an amount of money as large as, say, a $2T corona-virus stimulus package:

1000 minutes = 16.7 hours - what most of might consider a very long work day, and unfortunately, well within our normal comprehension
1M minutes = 16,667 hours = 694 days = 1.9 years - maybe the highest order of magnitude we can really relate to on a practical level
1B minutes = 1,900 years = approx. back to the BC/AD timeline (about 25 times the current expected human lifetime)
1T minutes = 1.9M years = last stage of the Cenozoic Era

Not to fret though, it looks like another $1.5T is on its way. And, if Sagan is right, it's just my petty conceit that worries about it anyway.

 

[toddster]

There is an updated segment like that in the IMAX film "Cosmic Voyage"

Actually, the whole thing is on line now, but you may not get the full effect without an IMAX theater.

I was once invited to give a lecture for science museum members in Baltimore - immediately after they screened "Cosmic Voyage" for the first time. Everyone's mind suitably blown. Then I had to step up and show my little powerpoint slides in the middle of the IMAX screen So very very small indeed.

Hmm... the original is narrated by Morgan Freeman - someone set this clip to Holst: "Mars"

 

[toddster]

If anyone cares, the link in the last post is a very poor copy. This one is better.

Re-watched it over dinner. Basically an updated version of the 1977 film but in IMAX color and with the benefit of an additional 20 years of science. Also added the dimension of time.
It appears that in those 20 years, we gained an order of magnitude info in each direction. Hard to believe that it's been another 25 years already. Maybe time to re-do the film?

 

[Sean Engle]

Here is the incredible video...finally !

Very moving - thanks!

 

[Loren Beach]

And, a cosmic "bump" for this thread.