Call it a deep-space selfie if you will. Recently-released images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft show off Saturn in all its glory, including its rings, and for the first time ever, Earth and its moon in the background.
The full-color panoramic image released by NASA encompasses a whopping 405,000 miles across, covering the distance from one side of the E ring, the second outermost ring around Saturn, to the other. Earth and its moon can be seen at the bottom right of Saturn, while Venus and Mars are visible on the top left.
The 141 images needed to complete the picture were taken on July 19, 2013, as part of a NASA campaign to create a mosaic. People on Earth were encouraged to step outside on that day, find Saturn, and wave to it in an attempt to be caught in a cosmic camera.
"In this one magnificent view, Cassini has delivered to us a universe of marvels," said Carolyn Porco, Cassini's imaging team lead at the Space Science Institute in Colorado. "And it did so on a day people all over the world, in unison, smiled in celebration at the sheer joy of being alive on a pale blue dot."
NASA also created a collage of the same image, utilizing pictures from around the world of people waving at Saturn.
A high-resolution version of the collage can be found here.
NASA's Cassini spacecraft's main mission is to study Saturn, its rings, as well as the numerous moons orbiting the ringed planet. The spacecraft was launched in 1997, and became the first ever to orbit Saturn in 2004. Since then, it has provided scientists with priceless data on what is arguably the most beautiful planet in the solar system. NASA aims to continue the Cassini mission until 2017.
You can find out more about NASA's Cassini mission at the official Cassini webpage.