This was just released today by NASA. It is quite a humbling image from the Mars rover Curiosity, though it’s not quite the same impact as the Blue Marble image from Apollo 8, but historically significant nonetheless.
This view of the twilight sky and Martian horizon taken by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover includes Earth as the brightest point of light in the night sky. Earth is a little left of center in the image, and our moon is just below Earth.
Researchers used the left eye camera of Curiosity’s Mast Camera (Mastcam) to capture this scene about 80 minutes after sunset on the 529th Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s work on Mars (Jan. 31, 2014). The image has been processed to remove effects of cosmic rays.
A human observer with normal vision, if standing on Mars, could easily see Earth and the moon as two distinct, bright “evening stars.”
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project’s Curiosity rover. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built and operates the rover’s Mastcam.
More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/.
Click for a full resolution image:
Source: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA17936
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It may be the most significant speck in the entire universe. The tiny specks on board… make it very significant. GK
Charlie Johnson (@SemperBanU) February 6, 2014 at 2:03 pm
says:
‘We really are just a speck in the cosmos. Less than a speck.’
Yes, but we have the capacity to recognize that we exist. A speck – true. But, a thinking one. That’s pretty wondrous in its own light.
Many see this image as belittling and it is. Now how about a much bigger image showing us in the Milky Way? I still can’t understand just how BIG the Universe is. I have tried but it just overwhelms me.
Looks nice and warm! 😉
Nice picture Anthony…Really is.
Looks like venus over a California desert after twilight.
Hmmmmmm?
God knows how to do things big!
It’s quite interesting to see the high res image…. Our little moon under Earth’s bluish dot. As a telescope owner, I can identify with that, as I’ve looked at Mar’s little orange dot with its very faint “canali” on it many, many times…. and instantly could picture myself in my Martian backyard on a clear Autumn night looking at Earth’s blue marble and its big bright moon and thinking, “Coool!”.
Sorta just never pictured it that way before. 🙂
Michael D says:
February 6, 2014 at 1:59 pm
< I guess if you live on Mars, Earth is the Morning Star.
No. For the Earth, Mars will be in opposition with the Sun on April 8. For Mars, the Earth will then be in inferior conjunction with the Sun. Consequently, the picture has been taken before the Earth's inferior conjunction, when the Earth was seen in Mars' evening sky.
Viewers who like this will like the book Powers of Ten: About the Relative Size of Things in the Universe
I have to say our atmosphere is better looking.
Ooops–the last paragraph should have been outdented.
Charlie Johnson (@SemperBanU) says (February 6, 2014 at 2:03 pm): “We really are just a speck in the cosmos. Less than a speck.”
“Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you?” 🙂
MattS said:
February 6, 2014 at 2:58 pm
Mark and two Cats says:
February 6, 2014 at 1:48 pm
You are here
===========================================================================
Of course I am here. Where else would I be?
————
There.
Why is this humbling? It’s a photograph taken by a man-made machine sent over there for the benefit of us, Eartlings. We can even photoshop the image to make the speck called Earth fill the entire background of the picture. What calls for humility is the fact that, despite all our technological prowess, we are still extremely good at creating one mess after another (even though these messes cannot be seen from Mars).
Nice picture! I hope to be a witness of a manned mission to Mars. Fascinating planet.
‘You are here’ and ‘speck in the cosmos’ in the comments made me think of this movie: “Star Size Comparison”. A very nice line-up of the moon up to the biggest know star. It’s huge!
Those that think they see the moon as well…that is confirmed on the NASA site
So if we send folks to Mars, that is what home will look like?
Too frightening for me. No thanks.
“…nothing of note to draw anyone’s attention… .” (Leon Brozyna, 2:05pm)
*************** “Nobody outside the solar system would miss us… .” (Robert V, 2:35pm)
Ah, but there is One… Who never takes His eyes off us… Who loves us….
and yet…
{quoting from: Psalm 19 and from John 3:16}
Thank you for sharing that wondrous sight, An-tho-ny.
Umm ..Mark and two cats at 4:48…
And why are we all here?
Because we are not all… there… 8<))
>> “Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you?”
In the absence of The Force, size can matter, particularly in the Hitchhiker’s Guide universe:
“After millennia of battle the surviving G’Gugvuntt and Vl’hurg realised what had actually happened, and joined forces to attack the Milky Way in retaliation. They crossed vast reaches of space in a journey lasting thousands of years before reaching their target where they attacked the first planet they encountered, Earth. Due to a terrible miscalculation of scale the entire battle fleet was swallowed by a small dog.”
Don’t you hate it when that happens.
Say what?
H.R. says:
February 6, 2014 at 2:31 pm
“See that spec of light over there, Dad? I wonder if there’s intelligent life there…”
————————————————————————————————————————-
“not so much son, they do have some really good pizza though…just wish it wasn’t so cold by the time it gets here…”
I’m with you, Jimbo, “such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain… .” (from Psalm 139)
Thank you, Scarface,, for sharing that excellent video.
I would disagree with the video’s concluding assertion, however. In God’s eyes, we are the center of the universe. Pretty amazing.
Kinda cool I guess, but it’s still just a capture of photons emitted, minutes earlier.
We’re looking back in time, but then again are we ? could we ?