JPL
Careers
Education
Science & Technology
JPL Logo
JPL Logo
Image

Solar System Portrait - Earth as 'Pale Blue Dot'

Sept. 12, 1996
This narrow-angle color image of the Earth, dubbed 'Pale Blue Dot', is a part of the first ever 'portrait' of the solar system taken by NASA's Voyager 1.

This narrow-angle color image of the Earth, dubbed 'Pale Blue Dot', is a part of the first ever 'portrait' of the solar system taken by Voyager 1. The spacecraft acquired a total of 60 frames for a mosaic of the solar system from a distance of more than 4 billion miles from Earth and about 32 degrees above the ecliptic. From Voyager's great distance Earth is a mere point of light, less than the size of a picture element even in the narrow-angle camera. Earth was a crescent only 0.12 pixel in size. Coincidentally, Earth lies right in the center of one of the scattered light rays resulting from taking the image so close to the sun. This blown-up image of the Earth was taken through three color filters -- violet, blue and green -- and recombined to produce the color image. The background features in the image are artifacts resulting from the magnification.

Download JPG
Download TIFF
Target
  • Earth
Spacecraft
  • Voyager 1
Instrument
  • VG Imaging Science Subsystem - Narrow Angle
Credit
NASA/JPL

Keep Exploring

Related Topic

Event April 20, 2023 .

Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) Mission

News .

Joint NASA, CNES Water-Tracking Satellite Reveals First Stunning Views

News .

NASA Uses 30-Year Satellite Record to Track and Project Rising Seas

News .

Ranking Atmospheric Rivers: New Study Finds World of Potential

News .

NASA-ISRO Science Instruments Arrive in India Ahead of 2024 Launch

News .

NASA and Italian Space Agency Join Forces on Air Pollution Mission

News .

NASA Space Mission Takes Stock of Carbon Dioxide Emissions by Countries

News .

Removing Traces of Life in Lab Helps NASA Scientists Study Its Origins

News .

Dynamic NASA-Built Weather Sensors Enlisted to Track Tropical Cyclones

News .

Scientists Track Tropical Landslide Creeping Below an African City

About JPL
Who We Are
Executive Council
Directors
Careers
Internships
The JPL Story
JPL Achievements
Documentary Series
Annual Reports
Missions
Current
Past
Future
All
News
All
Earth
Solar System
Stars and Galaxies
Subscribe to JPL News
Galleries
Images
Videos
Audio
Podcasts
Apps
Visions of the Future
Slice of History
Robotics at JPL
Events
Lecture Series
Team Competitions
Speakers Bureau
Calendar
Visit
Public Tours
Virtual Tour
Directions and Maps
Topics
JPL Life
Solar System
Mars
Earth
Climate Change
Exoplanets
Stars and Galaxies
Robotics
More
Asteroid Watch
NASA's Eyes Visualizations
Universe - Internal Newsletter
Social Media
Get the Latest from JPL
Follow Us

JPL is a federally funded research and development center managed for NASA by Caltech.

More from JPL
Careers Education Science & Technology Acquisitions JPL Store
Careers
Education
Science & Technology
Acquisitions
JPL Store
Related NASA Sites
Basics of Spaceflight
Climate Kids
Earth / Global Climate Change
Exoplanet Exploration
Mars Exploration
Solar System Exploration
Space Place
NASA's Eyes Visualization Project
Voyager Interstellar Mission
NASA
Caltech
Privacy
Image Policy
FAQ
Feedback
Site Managers: Veronica McGregor, Randal Jackson
Site Editors: Tony Greicius, Naomi Hartono
CL#: 21-0018