NASA's Cassini to photograph Earth from Saturn

Saturns approx location above Chicago

Saturns approx location above LosAngeles 

Saturn’s approximate location above the New York skyline on July 19

 NASA's Cassini spacecraft will take some far-out pictures of Earth from 898 million miles away on Friday.Scientists are clicking these images because, at this time, Saturn will be backlight by the sun and even the Earth will be included in the photograph, the New York Daily News reported.The space agency has released charts of the Los Angeles, Chicago and New York skylines, which show the approximate location of the planet when the pictures are going to be taken. The 15-minute galactic photo shoot will start at 5:27 p.m. EST and keep clicking until 5:42 pm.Cassini Project Scientist Linda Spilker has said in a blog that the scientific objective of the image i to examine the rings and see if there is any change in them. (ANI) NASA's Cassini spacecraft will snap some far-out pictures of Earth from 898 million miles away, and Earthlings are encouraged to "wave" in the ringed-planet's general direction. Scientists are taking the image because, at this time, the entire planet of Saturn will be backlight by the sun. As a bonus, the Earth will also be included in the picture. Don't let a bad hair day stop you from participating. Earth will be but a tiny blue speck, so, while you won't actually be seen in the mosaic, you will still know you are in the image. NASA released charts of the Los Angeles, Chicago and New York skylines that show the approximate location of Saturn when the pictures will be taken. The 15-minute galactic photo shoot will start at 5:27 p.m. Eastern time and go until 5:42 p.m. Astronomers Without Borders and Diamond Sky Productions have dubbed it "The Day the Earth Smiled," and NASA is encouraging people to share their "Wave at Saturn" pictures on social media. The Cassini team said they would like to make a collage with the images to commemorate the occasion. Remember that Saturn won't be visible in the daylight, but stargazers will be able to spot the planet, as well as Venus, after the sun sets on July 19 and 20. Cassini Project Scientist Linda Spilker explained in a blog post that the main scientific objective of the picture is to examine the rings and see if they have changed. "A previous mosaic of the Saturn system Cassini made in 2006 revealed that the dusty E ring, which is fed by the water-ice plume of the moon Enceladus, had unexpectedly large variations in brightness and color around its orbit," she wrote. "We'll want to see how that looks seven Earth years and a Saturnian season later, giving us clues to the forces at work in the Saturn system." It is rare that scientists have the opportunity to photograph Earth from the outer part of the solar system. In fact, it has only happened twice before. In 1990, the Voyager 1 captured an image of the planet as a pale blue dot from 3.7 billion miles away. The only other picture was the one taken by Cassini in 2006 from 926 million miles away. The Cassini spacecraft is the size of a 30-passenger school bus and has been orbiting Saturn since 2004.