13 Most Iconic Science Pictures Ever Taken

12. Pale Blue Dot

The original Pale Blue Dot image (left) is a picture of Earth taken by the Voyager 1 space probe in 1990 from an incredible distance of 6 billion kilometres as it passed Saturn. The image on the right was taken by the Cassini space probe in 2013.

The Earth appears as a tiny dot, less than a pixel wide, dwarfed by the vast blackness of outer space. The picture was taken at the request of legendary astronomer Carl Sagan, who asked that Voyager 1 turn its cameras around and take one last snap of home before leaving the solar system.

Sagan's reflections on the image in his book Pale Blue Dot are some of the most beautiful and poignant meditations on humanity and our place in the universe. Listen to it below if you're in an existential mood: