NASA’s Cassini to Capture Earth in a Photo From the Vicinity of Saturn

NASA's Cassini spacecraft that is currently exploring Saturn is all set to snap a picture of our home planet from millions of miles away on July 19, NASA reports.

The multi image portrait of the Saturn system that Cassini is composing is designed for a special purpose. The image will capture our planet next to Saturn and its rings and will be a part of a mosaic or multi-image portrait, in which Earth will appear as a small pale blue dot between the rings of Saturn.

"While Earth will be only about a pixel in size from Cassini's vantage point 898 million (1.44 billion kilometers) away, the team is looking forward to giving the world a chance to see what their home looks like from Saturn," Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. said in a press statement. "We hope you'll join us in waving at Saturn from Earth, so we can commemorate this special opportunity."

Cassini spacecraft will take nearly 15 minutes to capture pictures of the Earth, states the report. This would begin at 5.27 p.m. EDT as Saturn will be eclipsing the sun from Cassini's point of view. And the spacecraft's unique vantage point in Saturn's shadow will offer the best scientific opportunity to view the planet's rings. When Cassini captures the image, North America and part of the Atlantic Ocean will be in sunlight.

Prior to this, in the years 2006 and 2012, Cassini composed eclipse mosaics of Saturn along with its rings. But these images of Earth will be captured in its natural blue color.  Apart from this, it will be the first to capture Earth and its moon with Cassini's highest resolution camera. The position of the probe makes it possible for the spacecraft to focus its camera towards to the sun without causing any damage to Cassini's sensitive detectors.

Carolyn Porco, the head of the Cassini imaging team at the Space Science Institute in Boulder,Colo., reveals July 19 as the most appropriate date as the spacecraft would get an opportunity to spend time in Saturn's shadow to capture visible and infrared imagery of the planet and its ring system.