星际空间的地球

2019 October 12

Interplanetary Earth
Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA & NASA/JHU Applied Physics Lab/Carnegie Inst. Washington

Explanation: In an interplanetary first, on July 19, 2013 Earth was photographed on the same day from two other worlds of the Solar System, innermost planet Mercury and ringed gas giant Saturn. Pictured on the left, Earth is the pale blue dot just below the rings of Saturn, as captured by the robotic Cassini spacecraft then orbiting the outermost gas giant. On that same day people across planet Earth snapped many of their own of their own pictures of Saturn. On the right, the Earth-Moon system is seen against the dark background of space as captured by the robotic MESSENGER spacecraft, then in Mercury orbit. MESSENGER took its image as part of a search for small natural satellites of Mercury, moons that would be expected to be quite dim. In the MESSENGER image, the Earth (left) and Moon (right) are overexposed and shine brightly with reflected sunlight. Destined not to return to their home world, both Cassini and Messenger have since retired from their missions of Solar System exploration.

星际空间的地球
影像来源与版权: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA & NASA/JHU Applied Physics Lab/Carnegie Inst. Washington

说明：2013年7月19日，我们首次在太阳系的另外两个世界-土星（带环的气态巨星）和水星（最内侧的行星）的轨道拍摄到了地球的影像。左侧是卡西尼号在环绕这颗边远的气态巨行星运行时拍摄的影像，可以看位于土星环的下方黯淡的蓝点便是地球。而同一天，人们也在地球上拍摄了许多土星的照片。而右侧照片是信使号在水星轨道拍摄的，可以看到在漆黑太空中的地月系统。信使号在搜索水星的天然小卫星（这些卫星的亮度预计会非常低）途中拍摄了此张照片。在信使号拍摄的照片中，地球（左侧）和月球（右侧）都被曝光过度了，反射的阳光使得他们格外的明亮。卡西尼号和信使号并没有返回地球的使命，不久之后便从探索太阳系的任务中退役了。