NASA. LARGE FORMAT. An extra-ordinary and historic view of t - Lot 255

NASA. LARGE FORMAT. An extra-ordinary and historic view of the planet Satrune. On July 19, 2013, in an event celebrated the world over, NASA's Cassini spacecraft slipped into Saturn's shadow and turned to take images of the planet, seven of its moons, its inner rings - and, in the background, our home planet, Earth. With the sun's powerful and potentially dangerous rays eclipsed by Saturn itself, Cassini's onboard cameras were able to take advantage of this unique viewing geometry. They acquired a panoramic mosaic of Saturn's system, enabling scientists to see details in the rings and throughout the system, as they are backlit by the sun. This mosaic is special because it marks the third time our home planet has been imaged from the outer solar system; the second time it has been imaged by Cassini from Saturn's orbit; and the very first time Earth's inhabitants were warned in advance that their picture would be taken from such a great distance. With both its wide-angle and narrow-angle cameras aimed at Saturn, Cassini was able to capture 323 images in just over four hours. This final mosaic uses 141 of these wide-angle images. Images taken using the wide-angle camera's red, green and blue spectral filters were combined and mosaicked to create this natural color view. Vintage chromogenic print. Label on back. 50.8 x 61cm with margins.