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Life

23rd Oct 2013

Video: Here’s a fairly epic reminder of our place in the universe

Carl Sagan's incredible 'Pale Blue Dot' essay is given new life with this fantastic video

JOE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=923jxZY2NPI

Carl Sagan’s incredible ‘Pale Blue Dot’ essay is given new life with this fantastic video

One of the world’s most famous astronomers and astrophysicists Carl Sagan asked those in charge of the Voyager 1 space probe, in a fleeting moment before it left our solar system in 1990, to turn back and take one last picture of Earth from the edge of the cosmos. The resulting image saw a small, pale blue dot suspended in a beam of sunlight, that highlighted just how insignificant our planet is in the greater scheme of things.

This video, made by the folks at The Sagan Series, pieces some of the most iconic footage and moments of the history of our planet together with the famous essay from the audiobook of Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot, which he penned after seeing the image. It is a beautiful reminder that all of what goes on, everything that we think is so important, takes place on a tiny dot in the middle of a vast darkness.

The Sagan Series is a project that is dedicated to promoting scientific literacy amongst the general public, and giving people a better chance to get to know more about how fascinating and interesting science can be.

If you fancy learning more about The Sagan Series, then head over to their Facebook page or check out one of our absolute favourite podcasts ever, Radiolab, where they talk a bit more about this brilliant photo and the Voyager missions.

Hat-tip to Mashable for the video

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