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NASA Image Shows Earth Between the Rings of Saturn

nasa.gov

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Re: NASA Image Shows Earth Between the Rings of Saturn

#11

Post by jbg_ »

pc86 wrote: post #10
rgun wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Earth in this image has a diameter of around 5 pixels. So each pixel here is around 2500 km (as diameter of earth is around 12700 km [1]) Farthest human has been is 400,000 km [2]. So the farthest we have ever been is around 160 pixels. [1] https://www.google.co.in/search?q=diameter+of+earth&oq=diame... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spaceflight_records#Fa...

Does this pedantry really change the meaning of Artlav's statement?

Please don't put down accuracy.

Re: NASA Image Shows Earth Between the Rings of Saturn

#12

Post by Sharlin »

Artlav wrote: post #7
Sharlin wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, we've been a bit farther away than a single pixel :) The moon is also visible in the photo (and appears to be closer to Earth than it actually is because the Moon-Earth-Saturn angle was not 90 degrees when Cassini took this picture).

Ah, i see. I thought the Moon was unresolved within the dot, not the faint dot to the left. :(

To be fair, the Earth-Moon separation as seen from Saturn is about one arcminute, just at the limit of the angular resolution of human eye. To a human they wouldn't be discernible as separate objects. Cassini's camera has a much narrower field of view.

Re: NASA Image Shows Earth Between the Rings of Saturn

#13

Post by ensiferum »

That tiny little speck in that endless blackness is us. All of the human race living on this tiny rock fighting over who owns which piece of land and whose religion is most peaceful.

All the world leaders should be spent to space to understand how insignificant we are and how petty and insignificant our disagreements are.

Re: NASA Image Shows Earth Between the Rings of Saturn

#14

Post by brlewis »

tombert wrote: post #5

It's a bit trippy to look at that picture, and realize that literally everything I know exists in that one little spec. It's cosmically humbling.

Humbling is good. On the other hand, I feel proud to live on the only planet we know of that has managed to take a selfie.

Re: NASA Image Shows Earth Between the Rings of Saturn

#15

Post by ysavir »

ensiferum wrote: post #13

That tiny little speck in that endless blackness is us. All of the human race living on this tiny rock fighting over who owns which piece of land and whose religion is most peaceful. All the world leaders should be spent to space to understand how insignificant we are and how petty and insignificant our disagreements are.

So size is the most critical aspect of significance?

Re: NASA Image Shows Earth Between the Rings of Saturn

#16

Post by rodionos »

> This image is part of a growing catalogue of "propeller" moons... Continued monitoring of these objects may lead to direct observations of the interaction between a disk of material and embedded moons. Such interactions help scientists understand fundamental principles of how solar systems formed from disks of matter.

I urgently need a refresher on astronomy so I can have an intelligent discussion about space with 6-year olds. So much has happened since last time I took it in high school.

Re: NASA Image Shows Earth Between the Rings of Saturn

#18

Post by muench »

rgun wrote: post #6
Artlav wrote: post #3

Yep, that little dot in the sea of infinity is our little blue marble. No one have ever been more than a pixel (EDIT: a couple hundred pixels) distant from it, and soon even that achievement would fade from living memory.

Earth in this image has a diameter of around 5 pixels. So each pixel here is around 2500 km (as diameter of earth is around 12700 km [1]) Farthest human has been is 400,000 km [2]. So the farthest we have ever been is around 160 pixels. [1] https://www.google.co.in/search?q=diameter+of+earth&oq=diame... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spaceflight_records#Fa...

The distance from earth to the moon is 384,400 km, and in the smaller detail picture that earth to moon distance is about 23 pixels. Or about 16,700 km per pixel.

And note they describe that small picture as "zoomed in", So I figure 400km is about 23 or maybe 24 pixels at most =D (or a diameter of less than 50 pixels).

Waiting for someone to find an even better estimation!

Re: NASA Image Shows Earth Between the Rings of Saturn

#19

Post by djsumdog »

tombert wrote: post #5

It's a bit trippy to look at that picture, and realize that literally everything I know exists in that one little spec. It's cosmically humbling.

The Pale Blue dot. It's where we keep all our stuff.

The two most likely outcomes are humans will expand into the stars or we go extinct (or we're already in the former and this is just a simulation).

Re: NASA Image Shows Earth Between the Rings of Saturn

#20

Post by ucontrol »

ysavir wrote: post #15
ensiferum wrote: post #13

That tiny little speck in that endless blackness is us. All of the human race living on this tiny rock fighting over who owns which piece of land and whose religion is most peaceful. All the world leaders should be spent to space to understand how insignificant we are and how petty and insignificant our disagreements are.

So size is the most critical aspect of significance?

Excellent observation.

Most critical? Maybe not. But it is undoubtedly very much a significant and underrecognized factor.

The Overview Effect is a real thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_effect

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