Famous ‘pale blue dot’ photo celebrates 25th anniversary

One of history’s most iconic photos turns 25 years old today. The photo, taken from the Voyager 1 spacecraft on Feb. 14, 1990, captured a family portrait of the solar system, with Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Venus and Earth – which showed up as a “pale blue dot” – in a single view. The photo was immortalised by astronomer Carl Sagan, who used the photo in his book, “The Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space.” The photo captured all but three of the neighbors. Mars was too dark; Mercury was too close to the sun, and Pluto was too dim.

Twenty-five years ago, Voyager 1 looked back toward Earth and saw a ‘pale blue dot,’ an image that continues to inspire wonderment about the spot we call home.

Ed Stone, former NASA project manager, in a NASA statement

Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, launched a few weeks apart in 1977 to conduct an unprecedented “grand tour” of the outer solar system. Together, the two probes gave researchers some of their first good looks at Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, as well as the moons of those big, gaseous planets. Voyager 1 became the first man-made object to reach interstellar space in 2012.

After taking these images in 1990, we began our interstellar mission. We had no idea how long the spacecraft would last.

Ed Stone

Science pale blue dot