But if you think about something like an atom-one of the particles composed of protons, neutrons, and electrons that make up the part of the universe that we perceive-then you probably really don’t have a very good intuitive sense of the size of it. You can easily visualize not just the fruit, but also its size-a spherical object that could fit in your hand. We humans aren’t very good when it comes to our sense of scale-particularly in the context of the vastness of the universe. And our Earth, and even more so ourselves, are vanishingly small when compared to scales of solar systems, galaxies, and the universe. No matter our backgrounds or solidly held opinions, we all share the same world. To see it is to know that we all live on a tiny dot.” Looking at that picture is much like looking at one of our own family portraits to see our parents and perhaps siblings, but also to see ourselves, captured in a moment in time.Īs Ann Druyan, the writer and producer (and spouse of the late astronomer Carl Sagan), pointed out in her reflections on the Voyager Missions, “ is a way to grasp our true circumstances that can pierce even the fiercest form of denial. That now-famous image has come to be known as the Pale Blue Dot-shown at the top of this page.

One of the most striking and well-known images from this family portrait is a picture of our very own Earth. The idea was to show us the view of our solar system from roughly 4 billion miles away. The original Pale Blue Dot image (Credit: NASA)īack in 1990, the Voyager 1 spacecraft, while zipping further away from its place of origin, was instructed to turn around and snap a few pictures of the solar system from that vantage point- a “family portrait,” as it was called.

Cosmos pale blue dot