NASA. CASSINI mission. Composite image of Saturn eclipsing t - Lot 249

NASA. CASSINI mission. Composite image of Saturn eclipsing the Sun, with Earth visible as a small blue dot. In this rare image taken on July 19, 2013, the wide-angle camera on NASA's Cassini probe captured Saturn's rings, our planet Earth and its Moon in the same frame. This is just one footprint in a mosaic of 33 footprints covering Saturn's entire ring system (including Saturn itself). For each footprint, images were taken with different spectral filters, for a total of 323 images: some for scientific purposes, others to produce a mosaic of natural colors. This is the only wide-angle image of the Earth-Moon system. Saturn's dark side, its bright limb, the main rings, the F ring, as well as the G and E rings, are clearly visible; Saturn's limb and the F ring are overexposed. The "cuts" in the brightness of Saturn's limbus are due to the shadows of the rings on Saturn's globe, which prevent sunlight from passing through the atmosphere in these regions. The E and G rings have been brightened for better visibility. The Earth, located 1.44 billion kilometers (898 million miles) away in this image, appears as a blue dot in the center-right; the Moon appears as a fainter protuberance on its right side. Vintage chromogenic print. Numbering on front. Label on back. 20.4 x 25.5cm with margins.