See the 10 Best Photos Taken by Voyager 2

This special color composite made from Voyager 2 narrow-angle frames taken on June 28, 1979, has been processed to exaggerate color differences within the naturally colorful Jovian atmosphere.

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Voyager 2: the story of its mission so far – in pictures

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Since launching in 1977 , the Nasa probe has captured never-before-seen images of the solar system

  • Nasa’s Voyager 2 sends back its first message from interstellar space

Mon 4 Nov 2019 17.10 GMT Last modified on Mon 4 Nov 2019 23.12 GMT

Photograph: JPL-Caltech/Nasa

An illustration from 1965 shows the calculated trajectories of Voyager 1 and Voyager 2

Photograph: Nasa

In 1973, the mission had been named Mariner Jupiter-Saturn 1977 and was intended to go only as far as Jupiter and Saturn, as seen in the old mission logo

Photograph: JPL/Nasa

The Voyagers carry aa phonograph record, a 12in gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth

Photograph: JPL-Caltech/NASA

Voyager 2 seen in its payload fairing in August 1977

Photograph: JPL/NASA

This picture of Neptune was produced from the last whole planet images taken through the green and orange filters on Voyager 2’s narrow-angle camera

Photograph: Corbis/Getty Images

Voyager 2 scientists Carl Sagan (top C, in blue shirt and glasses) and Ed Stone (lower R) look at images captured of Neptune’s moon Triton

Photograph: Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis Getty Images

The mission control room near Pasadena, California

Photograph: Nasa Photo/Alamy

The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum curator, Matthew Shindell (far L), moderates a discussion with (seated, L-R) the Nasa Voyager project scientist, Ed Stone; the mission grand tour creator, Gary Flandro; researcher Alan Cummings; project manager Suzy Dodd, and the golden record producer, Ann Druyan

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Voyager 2: An iconic spacecraft that's still exploring 45 years on

The interstellar vagabond continues to explore the cosmos along with its twin, Voyager 1.

Voyager spacecraft against a backdrop of stars as it travels through space.

Voyager 2 as the backup

Jupiter and saturn flyby, uranus and neptune flyby, voyager 2's interstellar adventure, voyager 2's legacy, additional information.

Voyager 2, was the first of two twin probes NASA sent to investigate the outer planets of our solar system. 

The probe was launched aboard a Titan IIIE-Centaur from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 41 (previously Launch Complex 41) on Aug. 20, 1977, its twin spacecraft Voyager 1 was launched about two weeks later on Sept. 5. NASA planned for the Voyager spacecraft to take advantage of an alignment of the outer planets that takes place only every 176 years. The alignment would allow both probes to swing from one planet to the next, with a gravity boost to help them along the way.

While Voyager 1 focused on Jupiter and Saturn , Voyager 2 visited both those planets and also ventured to Uranus and Neptune. Voyager 2's mission to those last two planets would be humanity's only visit in the 20th century.

Related: Celebrate 45 years of Voyager with these amazing images of our solar system (gallery)

Voyager 2 is now traveling through interstellar space. As of early November 2018, NASA announced that Voyager 2 had crossed the outer edge of our solar system ( Voyager 1 crossed the boundary into interstellar space in 2012. ) Voyager 2 is now approximately 12 billion miles (19 billion kilometers) away from Earth and counting!  

Although there was not enough money in Voyager 2's budget to guarantee it would still work when flying past Uranus and Neptune, its trajectory was designed to go past those planets anyway. If the spacecraft were still working after Saturn, NASA could try to take pictures of the other planets.

Voyager 2 was ready as a backup for Voyager 1. If Voyager 1 failed when taking pictures of Jupiter and Saturn, NASA was prepared to alter Voyager 2's path to follow Voyager 1's trajectory. It would cut off the Uranus and Neptune option, but still, preserve the possibility of capturing images.

The backup plan was never executed, though, because Voyager 1 went on to make many discoveries at Jupiter and Saturn, working well enough for NASA to carry out its original plans for Voyager 2.

Voyager 2 reached Jupiter in 1979, two years after launching from Cape Canaveral. Since Voyager 1 had just gone through the system four months earlier, Voyager 2's arrival allowed NASA to take valuable comparison shots of Jupiter and its moons. It captured changes in the Great Red Spot and also resolved some of the moon's surfaces in greater detail.

Voyager 2 took pictures of many of Jupiter's satellites. Among its most spectacular findings were pictures from the icy moon Europa . Voyager 2 snapped detailed photos of the icy moon's cracks from 128,000 miles (205,996 km) away and revealed no change in elevation anywhere on the moon's surface.

Proving that moons are abundant around the outer planets, Voyager 2 happened to image Adrastea, a small moon of Jupiter, only months after Voyager 1 found two other Jupiter moons, Thebe and Metis. Adrastea is exceptionally small, only about 19 miles (30.5 kilometers) in diameter at the smallest estimate.

Next in line was Saturn. Voyager 2  became the third spacecraft to visit Saturn when it arrived at its closest point to the ringed planet on Aug. 26, 1981, and took hundreds of pictures of the planet, its moons and its rings . Suspecting that Saturn might be circled by many ringlets, scientists conducted an experiment. They watched the star Delta Scorpii for nearly two and a half hours as it passed through the plane of the rings. As expected, the star's flickering light revealed ringlets as small as 330 feet (100 meters) in diameter. 

Voyager 2's made its closest approach to Uranus on Jan. 24, 1986, becoming the first spacecraft to visit the ice giant. The probe made several observations of the planet, noting that the south pole was facing the sun and that its atmosphere is about 85% hydrogen and 15% helium. 

Additionally, Voyager 2 discovered rings around Uranus, 10 new moons and a magnetic field that, oddly, was 55 degrees off the planet's axis. Astronomers are still puzzling over Uranus' orientation today.

Voyager 2's pictures of the moon Miranda revealed it to be perhaps the strangest moon in the solar system. Its jumbled-up surface appears as though it was pushed together and broken apart several times.

The spacecraft then made it to Neptune , reaching the closest point on Aug. 25, 1989. It skimmed about 3,000 miles from the top of the planet's atmosphere and spotted five new moons as well as four rings around the planet. Remarkably, Voyager 2 is currently the only human-made object to have flown by the intriguing ice giant, according to NASA .

On November 5, 2018, Voyager 2 crossed the heliopause — the boundary between the heliosphere and interstellar space. At this stage, the probe was 119 astronomical units from the sun. (One AU is the average Earth-sun distance, which is about 93 million miles, or 150 million kilometers.) Voyager 1 made the crossing at nearly the same distance, 121.6 AU.

According to NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) , Voyager 2 has enough fuel to keep its instruments running until at least 2025. By then, the spacecraft will be approximately 11.4 billion miles (18.4 billion kilometers) away from the sun. 

But Voyager 2 is destined to roam the Milky Way long after its instruments have stopped working.

In about 40,000 years Voyager 2 will pass 1.7 light-years (9.7 trillion miles) from the star Ross 248, according to NASA JPL. The cosmic vagabond will continue its journey through interstellar space and pass 4.3 light-years, (25 trillion miles) from Sirius in about 296,000 years. 

Voyager 2's observations paved the way for later missions. The Cassini spacecraft, which was at Saturn between 2004 and 2017, tracked down evidence of liquid water at the planet's icy moons several decades after the Voyagers initially revealed the possible presence of water. Cassini also mapped the moon, Titan , after the Voyagers took pictures of its thick atmosphere.

Voyager 2's images of Uranus and Neptune also serve as a baseline for current observations of those giant planets. In 2014, astronomers were surprised to see giant storms on Uranus — a big change from when Voyager 2 flew by the planet in 1986. 

To see where Voyager 2 is now you can check out the mission status with resources from NASA . Learn more about the iconic spacecraft with the National Air and Space Museum .  

Bibliography

NASA. In depth: Voyager 2. NASA. Retrieved August 17, 2022, from www.solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/voyager-2/in-depth/

NASA. Voyager - mission status. NASA. Retrieved August 17, 2022, from www.voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status/

NASA. Voyager - the interstellar mission. NASA. Retrieved August 17, 2022, from www. voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/interstellar-mission

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Elizabeth Howell

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, " Why Am I Taller ?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace

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10 Things You Might Not Know About Voyager’s Famous ‘Pale Blue Dot’ Photo

Earth as a tiny bluish dot suspended in a grainy beam of light.

Thirty years ago on Feb. 14, 1990, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft sent home a very special Valentine: A mosaic of 60 images that was intended as what the Voyager team called the first “ Family Portrait ” of our solar system.

The spacecraft was out beyond Neptune when mission managers commanded it to look back for a final time and snap images of the worlds it was leaving behind on its journey into interstellar space.

It captured Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Earth and Venus. A few key members didn’t make the shot: Mars was obscured by scattered sunlight bouncing around in the camera, Mercury was too close to the Sun and dwarf planet Pluto was too tiny, too far away and too dark to be detected. But the images gave humans an awe-inspiring and unprecedented view of their home world and its neighbors.

One of those images, the picture of Earth, would become known as the “ Pale Blue Dot .” The unique view of Earth as a tiny speck in the cosmos inspired the title of scientist Carl Sagan's book, "Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space,"

But the image almost didn’t happen.

Here are 10 things you might not know about Voyager 1’s famous Pale Blue Dot photo.

1. Not in the Plan

Neither the “ Family Portrait ” nor the “ Pale Blue Dot ” photo was planned as part of the original Voyager mission. In fact, the Voyager team turned down several requests to take the images because of limited engineering resources and potential danger to the cameras from pointing them close to the Sun. It took eight years and six requests to get approval for the images.

2. A Unique Perspective

Voyager 1 remains the first and only spacecraft that has attempted to photograph our solar system. Only three spacecraft have been capable of making such an observation: Voyager 1 , Voyager 2 and New Horizons . ( Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 — the other two spacecraft headed into interstellar space — had similar vantage points, but technical challenges prevented them from getting such a shot.)

3. A Mote of Dust

The Voyager imaging team wanted show Earth’s vulnerability — to illustrate how fragile and irreplaceable it is — and demonstrate what a small place it occupies in the universe. Earth in the image is only about a single a pixel, a pale blue dot.

4. A Happy Coincidence

The image contains scattered light that resembles beams of sunlight, making the tiny Earth appear even more dramatic. In fact, these sunbeams are camera artifacts that resulted from the necessity of pointing the camera within a few degrees of the Sun.

Voyager 1 was 40 astronomical units from the Sun at the time so Earth appeared very near our brilliant star from Voyager's vantage point. One astronomical unit is 93 million miles, or 150 million kilometers That one of the rays of light happened to intersect with Earth was a happy coincidence.

Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us.

Carl sagan

"Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space."

The prominent planetary scientist Carl Sagan ( 1934-1996) — a member of the Voyager imaging team — had the original idea to use Voyager’s cameras to image Earth in 1981, following the mission's encounters with Saturn. Sagan later wrote in poetic detail about the image and its meaning in his book, "Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space."

6. Cold Cameras

Voyager 1 powered up its cameras for the images on Feb. 13 and it took three hours for them to warm up. The spacecraft’s onboard tape recorder saved all the images taken, for later playback to Earth.

7. Light Time

The images of Earth snapped by Voyager 1 captured light that had left our planet five hours and 36 minutes earlier. (This was, of course, reflected sunlight that had left the Sun eight minutes before that.)

8. Downloading...

Voyager 1 was so far from Earth it took several communications passes with NASA's Deep Space Network, over a couple of months, to transmit all the data. The last of the image data were finally downloaded on Earth on May 1, 1990.

A pale, yellowish crescent-shaped Moon is near the top of this image with a blue, crescent Earth at the bottom.

9. Another Unique Perspective

Voyager 1 also took the first image of the entire Earth and Moon together near the start of its mission on Sept. 18, 1977. The images were taken 13 days after launch at a distance of about 7.3 million miles (11.66 million kilometers) from Earth.

10. Parting Shot

After taking the images for “The Family Portrait” at 05:22 GMT on Feb. 14, 1990, Voyager 1 powered down its cameras forever. As of early 2020 the spacecraft is still operating, but no longer has the capability to take images.

  • The Story Behind Voyager 1's Pale Blue Dot
  • The Story Behind Voyager 1's Family Portrait
  • Pale Blue Dot Poster
  • Voyager 1 Mission Page
  • Voyager 2 Mission Page

Acknowledgements: Amanda Barnett, Phil Davis and Preston Dyches contributed to this story. Some of the information in this article came from the account of the solar system family portrait detailed in Kosm ann , Hansen and Sagan, "The Family Portrait of the Solar System: The last set of images taken by Voyager 1 and the fascinating story of how they came to be," 70th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), IAC-19-F4.1.8, 2019.

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  • PHOTOGRAPHY

10 National Geographic Photos That Explain Earth to Extraterrestrials

How did this photograph of Jane Goodall end up in outer space?

Jane Goodall and another person observing chimps in the forest

In August and September of 1977 the twin spacecraft Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were launched. Their mission was to explore our solar system “from Jupiter to Neptune” before eventually leaving it—heading into interstellar space and to the truly unexplored beyond. Fixed to each spacecraft was a gold-coated record containing information about life on Earth—like a message in a bottle for any intelligent life that might discover it.

The record contained, among other things, an audio montage titled “ Sounds of Earth ,” Beethoven’s Cavatina, greetings in 54 languages, and, most importantly to us, photographs that visually communicate facts about the physics, biology, sociology, and beauty of the pale blue dot we call home .

Originally the team (chaired by Carl Sagan) planned to include six photos: “The Earth, the DNA molecule , and a few shots of humans and animals.” But the images, which were converted into sound and written on the record, took up less space than anticipated. The capacity increased nearly 20-fold and 118 photos were included.

Every image chosen had to communicate as much information as possible as clearly as possible in order to be understood without any context. A list of subjects was compiled by astronomer Frank Drake. Sagan then tasked his artistic collaborator, artist Jon Lomberg, with curating the image sequence, a role he took very seriously.

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“I found myself increasingly playing the role of extraterrestrial,” he says, “a mental exercise I had done in fun for many years (while playing Frisbee, for example, I’d ask myself, What would ETI make of this?). Only now it was in earnest. I would look at pictures and try to imagine that I’d never seen the subject before. How could the photograph be misinterpreted? What was ambiguous? How could scale be deduced?”

Lomberg and the team had only six weeks from start to finish to agree on the image edit, clear the rights, and actually fabricate the disc that would be used. In those six weeks they developed their “go to” image sources: the United Nations, Time , Sports Illustrated , NASA, and, most notably, National Geographic.

“Of the greatest assistance was the National Geographic Society,” Lomberg says in Murmurs of Earth , the handbook explaining anything and everything Golden Record-related. “In a way, they do routinely and on a larger scale what we were trying to do—give a full picture of Earth and its inhabitants.”

In 2012, Voyager 1 entered interstellar space, carrying photos of our world with it. But even if our message never meets the eyes of extraterrestrials (or whatever sort of sensory receptors they might have), Lomberg considers Voyager and its message a huge success. “As long as the space program is remembered,” he says, “people will remember that we made this thing that tried to show Earth for aliens, and it’s out there, two of them are out there, and getting further from us with every passing hour.”

So without further ado, here are ten of the National Geographic images that are, at this very moment, hurtling through space. Each photo is followed by the rationale for its inclusion on the record, as excerpted from Lomberg’s Murmurs of Earth .

a diver passing coral reef and a school of fish

Sagan, [Frank] Drake and I are all enthusiastic scuba divers, and we wanted some good underwater shots. But as we were looking through pictures of reefs and fish, we realized there was no way one could tell for certain that the scene was underwater. The most unambiguous way of showing an underwater scene was to have a diver present, since the air bubbles rising from the regulator should furnish clear evidence of the aqueous medium. In addition, the presence of the diver would show that human beings were interested in exploring and adapting to various environments. It is no accident that many space buffs (including science-fiction writers and astronauts) are scuba divers. The weightlessness, the life-support system, and the complex and gorgeous world of the reef seem a preview of interstellar exploration. It’s as close as most of us can ever get. This photograph was taken in the reefs of the Red Sea off Na’ama Bay in Sinai.— Jon Lomberg , Murmurs of Earth

This picture shows our near relatives being observed by two scientists, one of them the famous Jane Goodall. From the point of view of an extraterrestrial, chimps and human beings may be nearly identical—it seems likely that pictures of chimps dressed in cowboy suits would pass unnoticed by extraterrestrials. More human beings, they’d probably think. The fact that the human beings in this picture are studying the chimps may be a weak clue that the latter aren’t members of the race that made Voyager. On the other hand, it might appear that the chimps are the masters because the human beings are toting the gear. But we couldn’t leave out the primates. Also, the background shows a kind of vegetation not seen elsewhere: jungle growth.

This photograph was taken by Jane Goodall’s mother, Vanne Morris-Goodall. When we wrote her that we wanted to use the picture, she replied: “I am completely overawed by the knowledge that I once pressed the button for a photograph which is now on its way to outer space, and still more so because my daughter, Jane, has merited the unique honor of representing an area of study on the planet Earth.”— Jon Lomberg , Murmurs of Earth

a woman raking leaves in a yard

The growth on the trees has fallen off, and a human being seems to be collecting or raking it. The fact that the fallen leaves have changed from the green color seen in the leaves of other trees might indicate to the recipients this tree’s deciduous nature, and perhaps even something about the existence of several different photosynthetic pigments.— Jon Lomberg , Murmurs of Earth

people walking along the Great Wall of China

This was another suggestion made by Philip Morrison [ a scientist who helped compile the Voyager Records]. The Great Wall is one of the most tremendous engineering achievements of man, and it is also a product of one of the oldest and most important human cultures. It was difficult to find a shot that showed both the scale of the wall and a view of it close up. The National Geographic Society helpfully provided us with a number of photographs to choose from.— Jon Lomberg , Murmurs of Earth

a traditional dancer in Bali

This picture provides a clear presentation of human facial features and hands, and some suggestion of the complexities of dress and ornamentation found in most human cultures.— Jon Lomberg , Murmurs of Earth

Boston from the Charles River, with sail boats in the foreground

This represents the skyline of a modern city, showing skyscrapers. From the sailboats on the river it may be deduced that we like to live along rivers and coasts and that we use them for transportation (again emphasizing the importance of water on our planet and in our culture).— Jon Lomberg , Murmurs of Earth

a father holding his daughter on his shoulder

To humans, this picture embodies the pride of parenthood. For us selecting it, it was a source of pleasure for additional reasons. You can see everything —the man’s ears (amazing how many pictures do not show ears) and teeth (ditto teeth); the child’s toes. The man’s eyes are directed toward the child (a girl, by the way), while the child looks at the camera—a clue that, along with other pictures, might suggest that eyes are organs of vision. Their possible motion is clearly shown here. The muscles in the man’s arm are well-defined. The skin tones show perfectly. And it is a beautiful, well-composed picture to boot.— Jon Lomberg , Murmurs of Earth

satellite dishes lined up along a path with bikers riding along it

An interferometer is an array of radio antennas that can function as a single telescope. Here a group of humans on bicycles [recognizable from another picture on the record] is sightseeing. Like a suspension bridge, the shape of the disk antenna is determined entirely by the job it must perform, and so it should be recognized by the radio astronomers of another species.— Jon Lomberg , Murmurs of Earth

a man on a horse riding through empty sand dunes accompanied by a dog

This contains a lot of information about aeolian processes and dust-transport mechanisms in arid regions. A rider and his dog leave their tracks in the sand. We were afraid that the rider might be mistaken for a centaur. Later pictures make it clear that we have animals like horses and that we ride them … This is one of three pictures [on the record] that show dogs accompanying human beings. We hope the recipients will guess that dogs are our friends.— Jon Lomberg , Murmurs of Earth

the sun setting over the ocean with a flock of geese in the sky

We felt that at least one picture ought to be chosen purely for its beauty, to say nothing more than how lovely our planet is. A sunset seemed a good choice. But I might point out that the reddening of light contains information about our atmosphere, and the silhouetted birds show the mechanism of avian flight.— Jon Lomberg , Murmurs of Earth

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Want to know more about Voyager? Explore more in this interactive feature .

Voyager isn’t the only spacecraft to contain a message for extraterrestrials. The spacecraft Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 launched in 1972 and 1973 contained pictorial messages for possible recipients providing information about the origin of the spacecraft.

There is now an effort underway to raise funds to upload a message digitally to the New Horizons spacecraft , which was launched in 2006 with the mission to explore Pluto and the Kuiper belt.

Thanks to Vincent J. Musi for sparking an interest in this topic at the 2016 National Geographic Photography Seminar.

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30 years ago: voyager 2’s historic neptune flyby.

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Getting there, being there.

Neptune

Thirty years ago, on Aug. 25, 1989, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft made a close flyby of Neptune, giving humanity its first close-up of our solar system’s eighth planet. Marking the end of the Voyager mission’s Grand Tour of the solar system’s four giant planets — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — that first was also a last: No other spacecraft has visited Neptune since.

“The Voyager planetary program really was an opportunity to show the public what science is all about,” said Ed Stone, a professor of physics at Caltech and Voyager’s project scientist since 1975. “Every day we learned something new.”

Wrapped in teal- and cobalt-colored bands of clouds, the planet that Voyager 2 revealed looked like a blue-hued sibling to Jupiter and Saturn, the blue indicating the presence of methane. A massive, slate-colored storm was dubbed the “Great Dark Spot,” similar to Jupiter’s Great Red Spot. Six new moons and four rings were discovered.

During the encounter, the engineering team carefully changed the probe’s direction and speed so that it could do a close flyby of the planet’s largest moon, Triton. The flyby showed evidence of geologically young surfaces and active geysers spewing material skyward. This indicated that Triton was not simply a solid ball of ice, even though it had the lowest surface temperature of any natural body observed by Voyager: minus 391 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 235 degrees Celsius).

 Global color mosaic shows Neptune's largest moon, Triton

The conclusion of the Neptune flyby marked the beginning of the Voyager Interstellar Mission, which continues today, 42 years after launch. Voyager 2 and its twin, Voyager 1 (which had also flown by Jupiter and Saturn), continue to send back dispatches from the outer reaches of our solar system. At the time of the Neptune encounter, Voyager 2 was about 2.9 billion miles (4.7 billion kilometers) from Earth; today it is 11 billion miles (18 billion kilometers) from us. The faster-moving Voyager 1 is 13 billion miles (21 billion kilometers) from Earth.   

By the time Voyager 2 reached Neptune, the Voyager mission team had completed five planetary encounters. But the big blue planet still posed unique challenges.

About 30 times farther from the Sun than Earth is, the icy giant receives only about 0.001 times the amount of sunlight that Earth does. In such low light, Voyager 2’s camera required longer exposures to get quality images. But because the spacecraft would reach a maximum speed of about 60,000 mph (90,000 kph) relative to Earth, a long exposure time would make the image blurry. (Imagine trying to take a picture of a roadside sign from the window of a speeding car.)

So the team programmed Voyager 2’s thrusters to fire gently during the close approach, rotating the spacecraft to keep the camera focused on its target without interrupting the spacecraft’s overall speed and direction.

The probe’s great distance also meant that by the time radio signals from Voyager 2 reached Earth, they were weaker than those of other flybys. But the spacecraft had the advantage of time: The Voyagers communicate with Earth via the Deep Space Network, or DSN, which utilizes radio antennas at sites in Madrid, Spain; Canberra, Australia; and Goldstone, California. During Voyager 2’s Uranus encounter in 1986, the three largest DSN antennas were 64-meters (210 feet) wide. To assist with the Neptune encounter, the DSN expanded the dishes to 70 meters (230 feet). They also included nearby non-DSN antennas to collect data, including another 64-meter (210 feet) dish in Parkes, Australia, and multiple 25-meter (82 feet) antennas at the Very Large Array in New Mexico.

Neptune and rings

The effort ensured that engineers could hear Voyager loud and clear. It also increased how much data could be sent back to Earth in a given period, enabling the spacecraft to send back more pictures from the flyby. 

In the week leading up to that August 1989 close encounter, the atmosphere was electric at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, which manages the Voyager mission. As images taken by Voyager 2 during its Neptune approach made the four-hour journey to Earth, Voyager team members would crowd around computer monitors around the Lab to see.

“One of the things that made the Voyager planetary encounters different from missions today is that there was no internet that would have allowed the whole team and the whole world to see the pictures at the same time,” Stone said. “The images were available in real time at a limited number of locations.”

But the team was committed to giving the public updates as quickly as possible, so from Aug. 21 to Aug. 29, they would share their discoveries with the world during daily press conferences. On Aug. 24, a program called “Voyager All Night” broadcast regular updates from the probe’s closest encounter with the planet, which took place at 4 a.m. GMT (9 p.m. in California on Aug. 24).

The next morning, Vice President Dan Quayle visited the Lab to commend the Voyager team. That night, Chuck Berry, whose song “Johnny B. Goode” was included on the Golden Record that flew with both Voyagers, played at JPL’s celebration of the feat.

Chuck Berry and Carl Sagan

Of course, the Voyagers’ achievements extend far beyond that historic week three decades ago. Both probes have now entered interstellar space after exiting the heliosphere — the protective bubble around the planets created by a high-speed flow of particles and magnetic fields spewed outward by our Sun.

They are reporting back to Earth on the “weather” and conditions from this region filled with the debris from stars that exploded elsewhere in our galaxy. They have taken humanity’s first tenuous step into the cosmic ocean where no other operating probes have flown.

Voyager data also complement other missions, including NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer ( IBEX ), which is remotely sensing that boundary where particles from our Sun collide with material from the rest of the galaxy. And NASA is preparing the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe ( IMAP ), due to launch in 2024, to capitalize on Voyager observations.

The Voyagers send their findings back to DSN antennas with 13-watt transmitters — about enough power to run a refrigerator light bulb.

“Every day they travel somewhere that human probes have never been before,” said Stone. “Forty-two years after launch, and they’re still exploring.”

For more information about the Voyager mission visit:

https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/

For more images of Neptune taken by Voyager 2 visit:

https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/images-voyager-took/neptune/

Calla Cofield Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 626-808-2469 [email protected]

Uranus as seen by NASA's Voyager 2

This is an image of the planet Uranus taken by the spacecraft Voyager 2 in 1986.

This is an image of the planet Uranus taken by the spacecraft Voyager 2 in 1986. The Voyager project is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

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Jessica Grose

A.i. is making the sexual exploitation of girls even worse.

An illustration that includes a photo of a cellphone with a blurred image on its screen.

By Jessica Grose

Opinion Writer

On Tuesday, Kat Tenbarge and Liz Kreutz of NBC News reported that several middle schoolers in Beverly Hills, Calif., were caught making and distributing fake naked photos of their peers: “School officials at Beverly Vista Middle School were made aware of the ‘A.I.-generated nude photos’ of students last week, the district superintendent said in a letter to parents. The superintendent told NBC News the photos included students’ faces superimposed onto nude bodies.”

I had heard about this kind of thing happening to high school girls , which is horrible enough. But the idea of such young children being dehumanized by their classmates, humiliated and sexualized in one of the places they’re supposed to feel safe, and knowing those images could be indelible and worldwide, turned my stomach.

I’m not a technophobe and have, in the past, been somewhat skeptical about the outsize negative impact of social media on teen girls. And while I still think the subject is complicated, and that the research doesn’t always conclude that there are unfavorable mental health effects of social media use on all groups of young people, the increasing reach of artificial intelligence adds a new wrinkle that has the potential to cause all sorts of damage. The possibilities are especially frightening when the technology is used by teens and tweens, groups with notoriously iffy judgment about the permanence of their actions.

I have to admit that my gut reaction to the Beverly Hills story was rage — I wanted the book thrown at the kids who made those fakes. But I wanted to hear from someone with more experience talking to teens and thinking deeply about the adolescent relationship with privacy and technology. So I called Devorah Heitner, the author of “Growing Up in Public: Coming of Age in a Digital World,” to help me step back a bit from my punitive fury.

Heitner pointed out that although artificial intelligence adds a new dimension, kids have been passing around digital sexual images without consent for years. According to a 2018 meta-analysis from JAMA Pediatrics, among children in the 12 to 17 age range, “The prevalence of forwarding a sext without consent was 12.0 percent,” and “and the prevalence of having a sext forwarded without consent was 8.4 percent.”

In her book, Heitner offers an example in which an eighth-grade girl sends a topless photo to her boyfriend, who circulates it to his friends without her permission. After they broke up, but without her knowledge, “her picture kept circulating, passing from classmate to classmate throughout their middle school,” and then “one afternoon, she opened her school email to find a video with her image with sound effects from a porn video playing with it.”

That kind of situation is already sickening, but the creation of fake nude images adds another layer of transgression. In the Beverly Hills case, according to NBC News, not only were middle schoolers sexualizing their peers without consent by creating the fakes, they shared the images, which can only compound the pain.

“If you’re creating an image of someone else and doing it without their consent,” Heitner told me, “whether it’s real or fake, you are violating that person and violating their privacy, violating their safety.” In these situations, she said, girls may feel that their sense of social acceptance has been lost. They may feel a sense of torturous humiliation from not knowing who among their peers has seen these types of images and who hasn’t. In her book, Heitner describes situations in which girls stop going to school altogether.

But Heitner also cautioned against over-punishing the perpetrators when they are younger children. “It’s important to understand that a 12- or 13-year-old is developmentally different than an adult,” she said. While it may be appropriate to suspend that child or move them to a different school if their victims no longer want to be around them, they shouldn’t be indefinitely barred from all participation in school or cast out of society. They are redeemable; they can make amends and become adults who know better. (It should be noted that in the Beverly Hills case, according to NBC News, the superintendent of schools said that the students responsible could face suspension to expulsion, depending on how involved they were in creating and sharing the images.)

Kids need to be better educated, starting in elementary school, about technology and consent before things like this happen. If you think grammar school is too young to learn about such things, remember that these days it’s typical for kids to get their own cellphones at around 11 or 12, and many kids even younger than that have access to a family iPad with image creation and sharing capabilities. As Heitner writes in her book:

Teach your child the importance of never sharing an explicit message or photograph of another person — especially without that person’s consent. Explain to them that regardless of how they came across the explicit image or message, passing it on to someone else is unethical, perpetuates that person’s violation, and is very likely illegal in their state (especially if the image is of a minor).

The relevant laws apply most directly to real photos, though. In some states, A.I.-generated nudes exist in more of a legal gray area. There is no federal law that protects victims of deepfakes, and, according to reporting by Tenbarge and Melissa Chan, “Politicians and legal experts say there are few, if any, pathways to recourse for victims of A.I.-generated and deepfake pornography” — almost all of whom are women, according to a 2019 study. School districts and our legal system need to move quickly to come up with policies that deal with these issues, because they are not going away and they are only going to become more pervasive as technology evolves and proliferates.

Heitner also emphasized the importance of getting to the root of this kind of behavior. “We actually need to lean into teaching kids about empathy and respecting one another’s humanity,” she said, and also look at “the misogyny and homophobia in society that seems to be giving these kids license to bully along these very sort of gendered lines and police one another’s bodies.”

I regularly hear from people who say they’re perplexed that young women still feel so disempowered, given the fact that they’re earning the majority of college degrees and doing better than their male counterparts by several metrics. At a certain level, it’s not that complicated: Girls frequently feel less-than because they know that some of their peers have the impression that they’re allowed to be thoughtlessly degrading. And further, they know that a portion of society values them only as objects . They walk through the world with that weight on their shoulders, and it’s up to all of us to help lift it.

Jessica Grose is an Opinion writer for The Times, covering family, religion, education, culture and the way we live now.

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Fake images made to show Trump with Black supporters highlight concerns around AI and elections

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a Super Tuesday election night party Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. Fake images of Trump surrounded by smiling Black voters are circulating online, highlighting the potential dangers posed by artificial intelligence ahead of the 2024 election. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a Super Tuesday election night party Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. Fake images of Trump surrounded by smiling Black voters are circulating online, highlighting the potential dangers posed by artificial intelligence ahead of the 2024 election. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — At first glance, images circulating online showing former President Donald Trump surrounded by groups of Black people smiling and laughing seem nothing out of the ordinary, but a look closer is telling.

Odd lighting and too-perfect details provide clues to the fact they were all generated using artificial intelligence. The photos, which have not been linked to the Trump campaign, emerged as Trump seeks to win over Black voters who polls show remain loyal to President Joe Biden.

The fabricated images, highlighted in a recent BBC investigation, provide further evidence to support warnings that the use of AI-generated imagery will only increase as the November general election approaches. Experts said they highlight the danger that any group — Latinos, women, older male voters — could be targeted with lifelike images meant to mislead and confuse as well as demonstrate the need for regulation around the technology.

In a report published this week, researchers at the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate used several popular AI programs to show how easy it is to create realistic deepfakes that can fool voters . The researchers were able to generate images of Trump meeting with Russian operatives, Biden stuffing a ballot box and armed militia members at polling places, even though many of these AI programs say they have rules to prohibit this kind of content.

In this combination of photos, President Joe Biden, left, speaks on Aug. 10, 2023, in Salt Lake City, and former President Donald Trump speaks on June 13, 2023, in Bedminster, N.J. The 2024 general election campaign will pick up Saturday, March 9, where the 2020 contest left off. Fresh off their Super Tuesday domination to set up a near-certain rematch, the two rivals will hold dueling events in a state that both parties see as pivotal to winning in November. (AP Photo)

The center analyzed some of the recent deepfakes of Trump and Black voters and determined that at least one was originally created as satire but was now being shared by Trump supporters as evidence of his support among Blacks.

Social media platforms and AI companies must do more to protect users from AI’s harmful effects, said Imran Ahmed, the center’s CEO and founder.

“If a picture is worth a thousand words, then these dangerously susceptible image generators, coupled with the dismal content moderation efforts of mainstream social media, represent as powerful a tool for bad actors to mislead voters as we’ve ever seen,” Ahmed said. “This is a wake-up call for AI companies, social media platforms and lawmakers – act now or put American democracy at risk.”

The images prompted alarm on both the right and left that they could mislead people about the former president’s support among African Americans. Some in Trump’s orbit have expressed frustration at the circulation of the fake images, believing that the manufactured scenes undermine Republican outreach to Black voters.

“If you see a photo of Trump with Black folks and you don’t see it posted on an official campaign or surrogate page, it didn’t happen,” said Diante Johnson, president of the Black Conservative Federation. “It’s nonsensical to think that the Trump campaign would have to use AI to show his Black support.”

Experts expect additional efforts to use AI-generated deepfakes to target specific voter blocs in key swing states, such as Latinos, women, Asian Americans and older conservatives, or any other demographic that a campaign hopes to attract, mislead or frighten. With dozens of countries holding elections this year, the challenges posed by deepfakes are a global issue.

In January, voters in New Hampshire received a robocall that mimicked Biden’s voice telling them, falsely, that if they cast a ballot in that state’s primary they would be ineligible to vote in the general election. A political consultant later acknowledged creating the robocall , which may be the first known attempt to use AI to interfere with a U.S. election.

Such content can have a corrosive effect even when it’s not believed, according to a February study by researchers at Stanford University examining the potential impacts of AI on Black communities. When people realize they can’t trust images they see online, they may start to discount legitimate sources of information .

“As AI-generated content becomes more prevalent and difficult to distinguish from human-generated content, individuals may become more skeptical and distrustful of the information they receive,” the researchers wrote.

Even if it doesn’t succeed in fooling a large number of voters, AI-generated content about voting, candidates and elections can make it harder for anyone to distinguish fact from fiction, causing them to discount legitimate sources of information and fueling a loss of trust that’s undermining faith in democracy while widening political polarization.

While false claims about candidates and elections are nothing new, AI makes it faster, cheaper and easier than ever to craft lifelike images, video and audio. When released onto social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook or X, AI deepfakes can reach millions before tech companies , government officials or legitimate news outlets are even aware of their existence.

“AI simply accelerated and pressed fast forward on misinformation,” said Joe Paul, a business executive and advocate who has worked to increase digital access among communities of color. Paul noted that Black communities often have “this history of mistrust” with major institutions, including in politics and media, that both make Black communities more skeptical of public narratives about them as well as fact-checking meant to inform the community.

Digital literacy and critical thinking skills are one defense against AI-generated misinformation, Paul said. “The goal is to empower folks to critically evaluate the information that they encounter online. The ability to think critically is a lost art among all communities, not just Black communities.”

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3 things to know about the current crisis in Haiti

Eyder Peralta headshot

Eyder Peralta

voyager 2 real photo

A demonstrator holds up a Haitian flag during protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Friday. Odelyn Joseph/AP hide caption

A demonstrator holds up a Haitian flag during protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Friday.

MEXICO CITY — Haiti is entering its second day of a state of emergency, after gangs attacked the capital city's most important prisons over the weekend, releasing thousands of inmates. The country's airport is under siege, and on Monday evening, it was still not clear whether Haiti's de facto prime minister had made it back into the country.

Monique Clesca, a well-known activist in Haiti, says the weekend represented "three days of terror."

"Gangs paraded throughout Port-au-Prince with their arms openly," she told NPR. "It wasn't done at night and the police was nowhere to be found."

Haiti declares a curfew as it tries to restore order after weekend jailbreaks

Haiti declares a curfew as it tries to restore order after weekend jailbreaks

Almost three years after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse , Haiti has been in free-fall. Elections haven't been held since 2017, so the term for every elected official has expired; security services are overwhelmed and millions are going hungry.

Here are three things you should know about this latest bout of violence in the country.

It marks the overt involvement of gangs in politics

Robert Fatton, who studies Haiti at the University of Virginia, says other bouts of violence in Haiti were marked by fights between gangs.

This time, he says, the gangs in Haiti have forged an alliance and at least one of the big gang leaders, Jimmy Chérizier, who is nicknamed Barbecue, has said explicitly that the point of this violence is to overthrow the government.

voyager 2 real photo

Leader of the "G9 and Family" gang, Jimmy Cherizier, better known as Barbecue, in Haiti on Oct. 21, 2022. Matias Delacroix/AP hide caption

Leader of the "G9 and Family" gang, Jimmy Cherizier, better known as Barbecue, in Haiti on Oct. 21, 2022.

Fatton says working together, the gangs have flexed a powerful muscle. They already controlled most of the capital city, but over the past week, they shot at airplanes at the international airport in Port-au-Prince. International airlines stopped their flights, something that rarely happened in the past. The gangs also overpowered police at two of the main prisons and managed to release thousands of inmates.

As its only remaining elected officials depart, Haiti reaches a breaking point

As its only remaining elected officials depart, Haiti reaches a breaking point

This is a critical moment for Haiti, Fatton says.

"The situation is on the verge of a real collapse of any and every institution that remains in the country," he says.

In other words, he says, there is a possibility the gangs could become the dominant force in Haiti.

Haiti's de facto prime minister is not in the country

Haiti's de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry traveled to Kenya last week. Last year, the East African country agreed to lead a multinational force in Haiti , but Kenyan courts have delayed the deployment. Henry was in the country trying to close that deal.

When the violence broke out, it was Patrick Boisvert, the country's finance minister who was acting as prime minister, who signed the emergency declaration .

voyager 2 real photo

Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry gives a public lecture at the United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya, on Friday. Henry said elections in his country need to be held as soon as possible to bring stability to the troubled Caribbean nation. Andrew Kasuku/AP hide caption

Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry gives a public lecture at the United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya, on Friday. Henry said elections in his country need to be held as soon as possible to bring stability to the troubled Caribbean nation.

At a press briefing, the U.S. State Department said Henry was "returning to the country."

"We think it's important that he do so and that he be allowed to do so," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, declining to say more.

On Tuesday night, however, several news outlets were reporting that Henry had touched down in Puerto Rico. Citing tracking data, The Associated Press reported that Henry's flight had originated in New Jersey and was heading toward Dominican Republic, which shares with Haiti the island of Hispaniola. His plane circled mid-flight before diverting to Puerto Rico.

Kenyan police are still seen as the way out of this crisis

Speaking to reporters the State Department's Miller said the crisis "underscores the urgency" of finalizing the Kenyan-led mission.

Clesca, who was part of a civil society group that has promoted a holistic approach to ending the Haitian crisis, says part of the problem is that Prime Minister Henry has been solely focused on a military solution. Henry, she says, could have ordered a state of emergency from the time he came to power, allowing the police to bring the gangs under control and at the same time plan for elections.

Haiti's Slain President Presided Over The Collapse Of Security In His Country

Haiti's Slain President Presided Over The Collapse Of Security In His Country

"Instead, a few months after [he came to power], he went to the United Nations and said 'send me some troops' and then crossed his arms," Clesca says. "And that's all they did — wait and wait and wait."

On Friday, Henry and Kenyan President William Ruto witnessed the signing of a bilateral agreement authorizing the deployment of 1,000 Kenyan police officers to Haiti. Kenya's government believes the agreement satisfies the objections of the Kenyan courts, which had stopped the deployment.

"It is a mission for humanity," Ruto said . "It is a mission in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Haiti."

Ruto said the signing of the agreement was the "final step" and that his police force would "be there at the earliest opportunity that is possible."

Correction March 5, 2024

This story was updated to reflect Haiti's de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry arriving in Puerto Rico.

  • Ariel Henry

What the cast of 'Dune: Part 2' looks like in real life

  • The sequel to Denis Villeneuve's "Dune: Part One" is now playing in theaters.
  • The cast of "Dune: Part Two" includes Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, and Christopher Walken.
  • Some actors look similar in real life, but others transform for their roles. 

Insider Today

Denis Villeneuve's highly anticipated follow-up to 2021's " Dune: Part One " has finally arrived.

" Dune: Part Two ," now playing in theaters, boasts a stacked cast of Hollywood veterans and younger talents, including Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, and Christopher Walken.

Unlike many films that succumb to the sequel curse , critics are hailing "Dune: Part Two" as a masterpiece that might just be superior to the first installment.

Here's how the stars of "Dune: Part Two" look in real life compared to their on-screen characters .

Timothée Chalamet returns as Paul Atreides.

voyager 2 real photo

In real life, Chalamet looks similar to his character.

Just as Paul steps into his position as Muad'Dib, Chalamet is also leading the pack in young Hollywood. At 28, the actor already has an Oscar nomination and has worked with notable directors such as Villeneuve, Christopher Nolan, Luca Guadagnino, Greta Gerwig, and Wes Anderson .

Zendaya gets much more screen time as the Fremen warrior Chani in 'Dune: Part Two.'

voyager 2 real photo

Chani and Zendaya are both fierce, but the actor is more likely to exude it through her bold and glamorous fashion on red carpets than on the sands of Arrakis .

The Academy Award winner Javier Bardem is back as Stilgar, a wise Fremen leader.

voyager 2 real photo

In the films, Stilgar and the Fremen have bright blue eyes as a result of consuming "spice," a valuable drug only found on Arrakis. In real life, Bardem has dark-brown eyes and styles his hair differently than his "Dune" character .

Rebecca Ferguson reprises her role as Lady Jessica, Paul's mom.

voyager 2 real photo

In real life, Ferguson has blonde-brown hair and blue eyes, albeit not as electric as those of the characters in the "Dune" universe .

Josh Brolin returns as Gurney Halleck after the character's fate was left unclear in 'Dune: Part One.'

voyager 2 real photo

In real life, Brolin has less facial hair than his "Dune" character .

Stellan Skarsgård looks vastly different from his antagonist character, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.

voyager 2 real photo

To become the Baron in the first "Dune" film, Skarsgård wore a 20-pound body suit and seven prosthetics. The whole process took eight hours , Skarsgård told The Daily Beast in 2021 .

The wrestler turned actor Dave Bautista reprises his role as Beast Glossu Rabban Harkonnen, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen's terrifying older nephew.

voyager 2 real photo

Like the other Harkonnens, Bautista's character is bald and pale. In real life, the "Guardians of the Galaxy" star has facial hair and often wears glasses .

The Oscar nominee Austin Butler is unrecognizable as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, Baron Harkonnen's bloodthirsty younger nephew who's skilled at combat.

voyager 2 real photo

Butler spent four months training to physically embody the villain. Because the actor was scheduled to film another movie, "The Bikeriders," after "Dune: Part Two," he couldn't shave off his hair. Instead, the "Elvis" star spent three hours in the hair and makeup chair getting a bald cap applied to his head .

Christopher Walken plays Emperor Shaddam IV in 'Dune: Part Two.'

voyager 2 real photo

In the production notes for "Dune: Part Two," Villeneuve said that Walken was "the only one I had in my mind as I was writing the screenplay."

Unlike some of his costars, Walken didn't undergo a significant physical change for his role .

Florence Pugh makes her debut as Princess Irulan, the emperor's daughter.

voyager 2 real photo

Pugh and Princess Irulan both possess a regal demeanor and intelligence. Off-screen, Pugh also rocks short, blonde hair .

Léa Seydoux joins the 'Dune' franchise as the mysterious Lady Margot Fenring, a Bene Gesserit.

voyager 2 real photo

Seydoux and Lady Fenring look similar, but the actor's "Dune" character conceals most of her hair under a cloak-like headpiece.

voyager 2 real photo

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  • The Contents
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  • Where Are They Now
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Q & A with Ed Stone

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Where are they now.

  • frequently asked questions
  • Q&A with Ed Stone

galleries  /  images voyager took

Solar system portrait.

This narrow-angle color image of the Earth, dubbed 'Pale Blue Dot', is a part of the first ever 'portrait' of the solar system taken by Voyager 1. The spacecraft acquired a total of 60 frames for a mosaic of the solar system from a distance of more than 4 billion miles from Earth and about 32 degrees above the ecliptic. From Voyager's great distance Earth is a mere point of light, less than the size of a picture element even in the narrow-angle camera. Earth was a crescent only 0.12 pixel in size. Coincidentally, Earth lies right in the center of one of the scattered light rays resulting from taking the image so close to the sun. This blown-up image of the Earth was taken through three color filters — violet, blue and green — and recombined to produce the color image. The background features in the image are artifacts resulting from the magnification.

Solar System Portrait - 60 Frame Mosaic.

Solar System Portrait - 60 Frame Mosaic.

Solar System Portrait - Earth as 'Pale Blue Dot'.

Solar System Portrait - Earth as 'Pale Blue Dot'.

IMAGES

  1. 10 Best Photos Taken By Voyager 2

    voyager 2 real photo

  2. Voyager 2’s Discoveries From Interstellar Space

    voyager 2 real photo

  3. An interview with Voyager 2 … at the edge of the solar system

    voyager 2 real photo

  4. NASA probe Voyager 2 reaches interstellar space after 42 years

    voyager 2 real photo

  5. Why Voyager 2 is the most important Spacecraft that is out there

    voyager 2 real photo

  6. Voyager 2 space probe to spend 11 months in silence

    voyager 2 real photo

COMMENTS

  1. Voyager

    Galleries of Images Voyager Took. The Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft explored Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune before starting their journey toward interstellar space. Here you'll find some of those iconic images, including "The Pale Blue Dot" - famously described by Carl Sagan - and what are still the only up-close images of Uranus and Neptune.

  2. Images taken by the Voyager 2 Spacecraft

    Color Voyager 2 Image Showing Crescent Uranus Full Resolution: TIFF (231.9 kB) JPEG (17.76 kB) 1998-06-04: Enceladus: Voyager: VG ISS - Narrow Angle: 1004x1004x3: PIA00347: Voyager 2 Color Image of Enceladus, Almost ...

  3. NASA Voyager Probes: 18 Best Pictures As 46-Year Journey ...

    NASA's Voyager probes have been traveling through space for nearly 46 years. Here are 18 groundbreaking photos from their incredible mission. Marianne Guenot. Updated. Aug 1, 2023, 4:01 AM PDT ...

  4. Voyager 2

    Voyager 2 also returned spectacular photos of Miranda, Oberon, Ariel, Umbriel, and Titania, five of Uranus' larger moons. In flying by Miranda at a range of only 17,560 miles (28,260 kilometers), the spacecraft came closest to any object so far in its nearly decade-long travels. Images of the moon showed a strange object whose surface was a ...

  5. 10 Best Photos Taken By Voyager 2

    An enhanced color image of Saturn's rings taken from the Voyager 2 spacecraft on Aug. 1981. Space Frontiers/Getty Images. View of volcanic eruptions of Pele on Jupiter's moon Io taken from the ...

  6. Voyager 2: the story of its mission so far

    Photograph: JPL-Caltech/Nasa. This photograph of the southern hemisphere of Jupiter was obtained by Voyager 2 on 25 June 1979, at a distance of 8m miles (12m km). Seen in front of the turbulent ...

  7. Voyager 2: An iconic spacecraft that's still exploring 45 years on

    In about 40,000 years Voyager 2 will pass 1.7 light-years (9.7 trillion miles) from the star Ross 248, according to NASA JPL. The cosmic vagabond will continue its journey through interstellar ...

  8. 10 Things You Might Not Know About Voyager's Famous 'Pale Blue Dot' Photo

    Here are 10 things you might not know about Voyager 1's famous Pale Blue Dot photo. 1. Not in the Plan. Neither the " Family Portrait " nor the " Pale Blue Dot " photo was planned as part of the original Voyager mission. In fact, the Voyager team turned down several requests to take the images because of limited engineering resources ...

  9. 10 National Geographic Photos That Explain Earth to Extraterrestrials

    Jon Lomberg, Murmurs of Earth. Sand Dunes Photograph by George F. Mobley. This contains a lot of information about aeolian processes and dust-transport mechanisms in arid regions. A rider and his ...

  10. 25 Years Ago, Voyager 2 Captures Images of Neptune

    This picture of Neptune was produced from the last whole planet images taken through the green and orange filters on the Voyager 2 narrow angle camera. The images were taken on Aug. 20, 1989, at a range of 4.4 million miles from the planet, 4 days and 20 hours before closest approach on Aug. 25. The picture shows the Great Dark Spot and its ...

  11. Color-corrected images reveal accurate portraits of Uranus and ...

    Irwin and his team applied data collected using those instruments to the original Voyager 2 images. The corrected images show that Neptune and Uranus have a similar greenish-blue hue. Both planets ...

  12. 30 Years Ago: Voyager 2's Historic Neptune Flyby

    Thirty years ago, on Aug. 25, 1989, NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft made a close flyby of Neptune, giving humanity its first close-up of our solar system's eighth planet. Marking the end of the Voyager mission's Grand Tour of the solar system's four giant planets — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — that first was also a last: No ...

  13. Voyager 2

    Plots 2 to 4 are third-angle projections at 20% scale. In the SVG file, hover over a trajectory or orbit to highlight it and its associated launches and flybys. Voyager 2 is a space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977, to study the outer planets and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere.

  14. The best space pictures from the Voyager 1 and 2 missions

    Image: NASA / JPL / Ted Stryk. Saturn as seen by Voyager 1 The last picture from Voyager 1's approach to Saturn in which the entire planet and ring system can be seen in a single frame. Image: NASA/JPL/Björn Jónsson. Voyager 2's best view of Enceladus This was the Voyager mission's best view of Enceladus, captured by Voyager 2 on August 26 ...

  15. Uranus as seen by NASA's Voyager 2

    Uranus as seen by NASA's Voyager 2. Dec. 18, 1986. This is an image of the planet Uranus taken by the spacecraft Voyager 2 in 1986. The Voyager project is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Download JPG.

  16. Images taken by the Voyager 2 Spacecraft

    Voyager 2: Hello Interstellar Space, Goodbye Heliosphere Full Resolution: TIFF (8.947 MB) JPEG (633.8 kB) 2018-12-10: Voyager Interstellar Mission: 1920x1080x3 ... Ganymede - Close Up Photos Full Resolution: TIFF (1.036 MB) JPEG (232.3 kB) 2002-05-10: Ganymede: Galileo Voyager: VG Imaging Science Subsystem VG ...

  17. Voyager

    Each Voyager space probe carries a gold-plated audio-visual disc in the event that the spacecraft is ever found by intelligent life forms from other planetary systems. Examine the images and sounds of planet earth. The Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft explored Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune before starting their journey toward interstellar space.

  18. Images of Uranus and All Available Satellites

    Color Voyager 2 Image Showing Crescent Uranus Full Resolution: TIFF (231.9 kB) JPEG (17.76 kB) 1998-08-02: Uranus: Hubble Space Telescope: WFPC2: 1125x900x3: PIA01279: Hubble Spots Northern Hemispheric Clouds on ...

  19. A.I. Is Making the Sexual Exploitation of Girls Even Worse

    The relevant laws apply most directly to real photos, though. In some states, A.I.-generated nudes exist in more of a legal gray area. There is no federal law that protects victims of deepfakes, ...

  20. 2024 election: Fake AI images of Trump create cause for concern

    The photos, which have not been linked to the Trump campaign, emerged as Trump seeks to win over Black voters who polls show remain loyal to President Joe Biden. The fabricated images, highlighted in a recent BBC investigation, provide further evidence to support warnings that the use of AI-generated imagery will only increase as the November ...

  21. Voyager 2's Last Image of Uranus

    Voyager 2's Last Image of Uranus NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft took this haunting final image of Uranus on January 25, 1986, as it left the planet to explore Neptune. NASA/JPL. Most NASA images are in the public domain. Reuse of this image is governed by NASA's image use policy. Explore related images: Bruce Murray Space Image Library, Outer ...

  22. 'Shōgun' review: This remake adds more sex, violence, intrigue ...

    In 1980, NBC's Shōgun miniseries told the story of an English sea pilot's adventures in Japan in the year 1600. Now, FX's remake is even more thought-provoking and stunning than the original.

  23. 3 things to know about the current crisis in Haiti : NPR

    Fatton says working together, the gangs have flexed a powerful muscle. They already controlled most of the capital city, but over the past week, they shot at airplanes at the international airport ...

  24. What the cast of 'Dune: Part 2' looks like in real life

    An image of a chain link. It symobilizes a website link url. Copy Link Denis Villeneuve's highly anticipated follow-up to 2021's "Dune: Part One" has finally arrived. "Dune: Part Two," now playing ...

  25. Voyager

    Solar System Portrait. This narrow-angle color image of the Earth, dubbed 'Pale Blue Dot', is a part of the first ever 'portrait' of the solar system taken by Voyager 1. The spacecraft acquired a total of 60 frames for a mosaic of the solar system from a distance of more than 4 billion miles from Earth and about 32 degrees above the ecliptic.