NASA's Cassini-Huygens spacecraft -- in service since 1997 and in orbit around the ringed giant since 2004 -- took pictures of Saturn and its rings during a solar eclipse on July 19. It acquired a panoramic mosaic of the Saturn system that allows scientists to see details in the rings and throughout the system as they are backlit by the sun. This mosaic marks the third time Earth has been imaged from the outer solar system. It is the second time it has been imaged by Cassini from Saturn's orbit. This annotated image shows Earth as a tiny dot.
Saturn in a different light —
NASA's Cassini-Huygens spacecraft -- in service since 1997 and in orbit around the ringed giant since 2004 -- took pictures of Saturn and its rings during a solar eclipse on July 19. It acquired a panoramic mosaic of the Saturn system that allows scientists to see details in the rings and throughout the system as they are backlit by the sun. This mosaic marks the third time Earth has been imaged from the outer solar system. It is the second time it has been imaged by Cassini from Saturn's orbit. This annotated image shows Earth as a tiny dot.
NASA/JPL
Cassini does not attempt many images of Earth because the sun is so close to the planet that an unobstructed view would damage the spacecraft's sensitive detectors. Cassini team members looked for an opportunity when the sun would slip behind Saturn from Cassini's point of view.
Saturn in a different light —
Cassini does not attempt many images of Earth because the sun is so close to the planet that an unobstructed view would damage the spacecraft's sensitive detectors. Cassini team members looked for an opportunity when the sun would slip behind Saturn from Cassini's point of view.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
The mosaic is part of Cassini's "Wave at Saturn" campaign, where on July 19, people for the first time had advance notice that a spacecraft was taking their picture from planetary distances. NASA invited the public to celebrate by finding Saturn in their part of the sky, waving at the ringed planet and sharing pictures over the Internet.
Saturn in a different light —
The mosaic is part of Cassini's "Wave at Saturn" campaign, where on July 19, people for the first time had advance notice that a spacecraft was taking their picture from planetary distances. NASA invited the public to celebrate by finding Saturn in their part of the sky, waving at the ringed planet and sharing pictures over the Internet.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
NASA's Cassini spacecraft has taken pictures of Saturn and Earth before. In this 2006 image, Earth is a tiny dot on the left, just to the inside of the second outer ring.
Saturn in a different light —
NASA's Cassini spacecraft has taken pictures of Saturn and Earth before. In this 2006 image, Earth is a tiny dot on the left, just to the inside of the second outer ring.
NASA
Saturn's dramatic rings are among the most stunning sights in the solar system, but NASA says the planet is still a mystery. The Cassini mission was launched to Saturn in October 1997 along with the European Space Agency's Huygens probe. The probe landed on Saturn's moon Titan on January 14, 2005. Cassini's primary mission ended in June 2008, but the spacecraft stayed healthy and is still at work.
Saturn in a different light —
Saturn's dramatic rings are among the most stunning sights in the solar system, but NASA says the planet is still a mystery. The Cassini mission was launched to Saturn in October 1997 along with the European Space Agency's Huygens probe. The probe landed on Saturn's moon Titan on January 14, 2005. Cassini's primary mission ended in June 2008, but the spacecraft stayed healthy and is still at work.
nasa
This view of Saturn's rings in ultraviolet light indicates ice toward the outer part of the rings.
Saturn's rings in a different light —
This view of Saturn's rings in ultraviolet light indicates ice toward the outer part of the rings.
nasa
This mosaic of Saturn's rings was taken by Cassini in September 2006, while the spacecraft was in the shadow of the planet looking back toward the rings from a distance of 1.34 million miles (2.16 million kilometers).
Saturn in a different light —
This mosaic of Saturn's rings was taken by Cassini in September 2006, while the spacecraft was in the shadow of the planet looking back toward the rings from a distance of 1.34 million miles (2.16 million kilometers).
NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Cassini snapped this picture of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, passing in front of the planet.
Saturn in a different light —
Cassini snapped this picture of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, passing in front of the planet.
nasa
Saturn in a different light

Story highlights

Image is Cassini's first showing Saturn, rings, moons, Earth, Venus and Mars at same time

The collage is panorama of 141 wide-angle pictures taken July 19

Image was possible that day because Saturn obstructed spacecraft's view of sun

CNN  — 

NASA has given the people of Earth a rare treat: A color mosaic that captures not only Saturn, but also the tiny dots of Earth and other planets in the background.

The panorama, released Tuesday, was captured by the Cassini spacecraft on July 19, when the sun slipped behind the ringed planet. Earth appears as a bright blue dot to Saturn’s lower right, just above Saturn’s outer, halo-like E-ring.

Venus is a dot to the upper left, with Mars appearing as a faint red dot above and to the left of Venus.

This is the first image in which Saturn, its moons and rings, and Earth, Venus and Mars are all visible, NASA said. The image – a panorama of 141 wide-angle pictures – covers 404,880 miles across Saturn and its ring system.

Cassini images showing both Saturn and Earth are rare because the sun is so close to Earth, that targeting the blue planet would damage Cassini’s sensors, NASA says. The July 19 image was possible because Saturn blocked out the sun.

Lonely, young planet drifting in space without a star

Space-minded earthlings might remember that July 19 was “Wave at Saturn” day. The Cassini team, knowing it would be capturing the Saturn-Earth images, invited people to take photos of themselves waving to the sky while the spacecraft took Earth’s picture.

Cassini was never going to see people gesturing from the tiny blue speck, of course, but that wasn’t the point. People shared more than 1,400 images of themselves from that event, and in August, NASA released a collage of those pictures assembled to look like – from a distance – a portion of Earth’s Western Hemisphere.

The Cassini spacecraft was launched in 1997 and has been in orbit around the sixth planet from the sun since 2004. NASA hopes to have it continue to get more pictures and other data of Saturn, its rings and moons through 2017.

Diamonds may be produced on other planets, including Saturn

CNN’s Todd Leopold contributed to this report.