34 years have passed since the creation of the first “family portrait” of the solar system.

On February 14, 1990, 34 years ago, the Voyager 1 spacecraft peered into the solar system to take the first photographs of planets from its perch beyond Neptune.

This “family portrait” captures Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Earth and Venus from a unique perspective. No other planets were visible: Mars had little sunlight, Mercury was too close to the Sun, and the dwarf planet Pluto was too dim.

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Taking these images was not part of the original plan, but the late Carl Sagan, then a member of Voyager’s photography team, came up with the idea of ​​turning the ship around to face the house to take another look at it. The title of his 1994 book, Pale Blue Dot, refers to the depiction of Earth in the series.

The image of the Earth contains diffuse light reminiscent of a beam of sunlight, a feature of the camera itself that makes the small Earth even more dramatic. At this time, Voyager 1 was at a distance of 40 astronomical units from the Sun. One astronomical unit is equal to 150 million kilometers.

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These images are the last that Voyager 1, launched in 1977, sent back to Earth. Mission specialists then disabled the camera so that the control computer could be reused. The ship continues to function, but no longer has the ability to take pictures.

Today, Voyager 1, at a distance of 162 astronomical units, is the farthest man-made object from Earth, and it still regularly communicates with our planet. In August 2012, the spacecraft entered interstellar space—the space between stars—and has been sending back data about this uncharted territory ever since. Its twin, Voyager 2, also launched in 1977, is also in interstellar space at an altitude of 135 astronomical units.

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