This updated version of “the Pale Blue Dot,” made for the photo’s 30th anniversary in 2020, uses modern image-processing software and techniques to revisit the well-known Voyager view while attempting to respect the original data and intent of those who planned the images.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Earth is but a tiny light blue dot in this 30th anniversary version of the iconic “Pale Blue Dot” image. The original photo, taken by NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft on Feb. 14, 1990, is now 35 years old. Voyager 1 was 3.7 billion miles (6 billion km) away from the Sun, giving it a unique vantage point to take a series of photos that created a “family portrait” of our solar system. Voyager’s view was important to Carl Sagan and the Voyager Imaging Team; they felt this photo was needed to show Earth’s vulnerability and that our home world is just a tiny, fragile speck in the cosmic ocean.
Learn more about this famous image of our home planet.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
