The First Interplanetary Photobomb   
       
   July 17, 2013:  Consider it the first interplanetary photobomb. On July 19th,   
   NASA's Cassini spacecraft will photograph Earth through the rings of   
   Saturn--and NASA wants you to jump into the shot.   
       
   "Cassini has photographed Earth before, but this will be the first time   
   Earthlings know in advance their picture will be taken from a billion miles   
   away," says Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion   
   Laboratory in Pasadena, CA.  "We hope that people around the world will go   
   outside to wave at Saturn while the photo-shoot is underway."   
       
   http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/waveatsaturn/   
       
   This will be the first time Earthlings have had advance notice that their   
   picture will be taken from interplanetary distances. To learn more about how   
   to participate, click here . Cassini's cameras will be trained on Earth during   
   a 15 minute interval that begins at 2:27 p.m. PDT (5:27 p.m. EDT or 21:27 UTC).   
       
   "I am excited about this rare opportunity to send photons of all of us waving   
   at Saturn," adds Spilker.  "I am encouraging my family and friends to wave at   
   Saturn on that day also."   
       
   The circumstances of this photo-op are extraordinary.  From Cassini's point of   
   view, the body of Saturn will eclipse the sun, so that the rings are   
   magnificently backlit.  Earth will appear as a tiny blue speck just outside   
   the E ring.   
       
   Opportunities to image Earth from the outer solar system are rare.  Since the   
   Space Age began, there have been only two images of Earth from the outer solar   
   system. The first and most distant was taken 23 years ago by NASA's Voyager 1   
   spacecraft beyond Neptune. The second was Cassini's image from the Saturn   
   system in 2006.   
       
   Cassini's image of Earth in 2006 inspired Carolyn Porco, the Cassini imaging   
   team lead at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado. "Ever since we   
   caught sight of  Earth among the rings of Saturn in September 2006, I have   
   wanted to do it all over again, only better," she says. "This time, I wanted   
   to turn the event into an opportunity for people all over the globe to   
   celebrate together the extraordinary achievements that have made such   
   interplanetary photo sessions possible."   
       
   This photo-shoot will improve upon Cassini's previous effort in two ways: The   
   July 19, 2013, image will be the first to capture the Saturn system with Earth   
   in natural color, as human eyes would see it. It also will be the first to   
   capture Earth and its moon with Cassini's highest-resolution camera.   
       
   The Americas will be facing Saturn at the time of the image.   For North   
   Americans, the event happens in broad daylight, so the best way to participate   
   is to go outside, face east, and wave at the blue sky.  You won't be able to   
   see Saturn, but it is there.   
       
   http://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2013/07/17/splash.jpg   
       
   North America and part of the Atlantic Ocean are expected to be illuminated   
   when NASA's Cassini spacecraft takes a snapshot of Earth on July 19, 2013.   
   This view is a close-up simulation. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech   
   Go outside again after sunset.  By that time, Saturn will have moved into the   
   southwestern sky.  It pops out of the twilight, a slightly-golden pinprick   
   about twice as bright as a first magnitude star.  Saturn is in the   
   constellation Virgo, not far from the bright star Spica.   
       
   If you have a telescope, point it at Saturn.  Even inexpensive backyard optics   
   will show you Saturn's rings and its biggest moon Titan.  Observers who see   
   Saturn for the first time through the eyepiece of a telescope often gasp.  The   
   view is Hubble-esque, but the experience is much more personal. You're seeing   
   Saturn with your own eyes, a celestial wonder right out of the pages of an   
   astronomy magazine.   
       
   From Cassini's point of view, Saturn's rings are too wide to capture in a   
   single image, so the spacecraft will take a series of exposures.  These will   
   be combined on Earth to produce a breathtaking mosaic.   
       
   "Seeing the whole mosaic of the backlit rings when it is put together will be   
   incredible," says Spilker. "We will be looking for changes in Saturn's faint   
   rings, especially the E ring, from the mosaic we took back in 2006."   
       
   The highlight of the day, however, will likely be our own planet. Says Porco,   
   "It will be a day to celebrate life on the Pale Blue Dot."   
       
   Friday, July 19th @ 2:27 p.m. PDT:  Go outside and add your photons to   
   Cassini's portrait.   
       
   For more information about the "Wave at Saturn" event, please visit   
   http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov//waveatsaturn/.  It's also on Facebook at   
   https://www.facebook.com/events/650683051626720/   
       
   Credits:   
       
   Author:Dr. Tony Phillips| Production editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit:   
   Science@NASA   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- D'Bridge 3.94   
    * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LoUiSiAna (1:3828/7)