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Rosetta Comet Chaser Images Earth and Moon

Posted by timothy on from the image-as-a-verb dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Using its navigation cameras at the end of July, the comet chasing probe, Rosetta, captured this photograph while looking back towards Earth. From a distance of over 42 million miles, the Earth and Moon look faintly like two headlights on a deserted road. The larger image particularly seems to underscore why Carl Sagan reflected (PDF) on all the battles fought for what?--to become 'the momentary masters of a fraction of a tiny dot.'"

2 of 23 comments (clear)

  1. Pale blue dot by XenoBOFH · · Score: 5, Informative

    All I can say is read Carl Sagan' Pale Blue Dot. It is a brilliant book about our fragile little world, and why we need to take better care of it - or get off it.

  2. Not a lot by eingram · · Score: 4, Informative

    42 million miles sounds like a lot, but that's not even half of an AU (1 AU is the distance from the Earth to the Sun). I'm not sure the point of my post, maybe it makes us seem more insignificant, or maybe not. I'm not sure. :)