On Friday, around 300 visitors gathered on the lawn of Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles to have their picture taken by the Cassini spacecraft from nearly 900 million miles away in outerspace.
Curator Laura Danly used a bullhorn to invite everyone to head outside for the cosmic photo shoot Friday afternoon, where the observatory took their picture from the far side of Saturn, reports the LA Times. Danly explained that the image would mainly feature the ringed planet with Earth as a tiny blue speck.
The scientific goal of the photo shoot was to study Saturn's rings since the planet will be backlit by the sun. However, having our planet in the shot tops it off, explained Florida Today.
Cassini took multiple images which will be stitched together to form one large mosaic picture. Scientists will also compare Cassini's new photo with one taken in 2006 to investigate how Saturn's rings have changed.
At 2:20 p.m., Danley shouted her command of "Right now!" and the crowds threw their hands in the air. Danly explained that the light waves carrying Earth's image would take 80 minutes to reach Cassini's camera.
Friday's photo shoot is unusual because Cassini and the sun are on opposite sides of Saturn. That allowed the planet to be lit from behind, affording scientists a chance to study its rings more closely, said observatory director Edwin Krupp.
Most photos of Saturn feature sunlight reflecting off the rings. But the brilliant lighting obscures their details. "If nothing else, it's a beautiful picture worthy of the art galleries of the world," Krupp said. "It spotlights the human experience and gives us all a chance to be participants in a subconscious way."
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