Posted on 02/14/2013 6:02:01 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Explanation: On another Valentine's Day (February 14, 1990), cruising four billion miles from the Sun, the Voyager 1 spacecraft looked back to make this first ever family portrait of our Solar System. The complete portrait is a 60 frame mosaic made from a vantage point 32 degrees above the ecliptic plane. In it, Voyager's wide angle camera frames sweep through the inner Solar System at the left, linking up with gas giant Neptune, at the time the Solar System's outermost planet, at the far right. Positions for Venus, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are indicated by letters, while the Sun is the bright spot near the center of the circle of frames. The inset frames for each of the planets are from Voyager's narrow field camera. Unseen in the portrait are Mercury, too close to the Sun to be detected, and Mars, unfortunately hidden by sunlight scattered in the camera's optical system. Small, faint Pluto's position was not covered.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit: Voyager Project, NASA]
APOD Public Talk: Feb. 21, Howard Astronomical League, Columbia, MD
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If I were Pluto, I’d refuse to take part too.
“Hey, I can see my house from here!”
Ha Ha Ha...
Veeger!
I love the photo of Uranus.
Pluto is the planet of the astrological sign Scorpio.
As a lifelong Scorpio, I’m deflated they no longer consider it a planet.
Fascinating. I really like photos taken from outside the plane of the ecliptic. Too bad that Mercury, Mars, and Pluto didn’t make it to the party.
Thank you, Mr. Civilizations.
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