AWB Archived Programs

The Day the Earth Smiled

  • Cassini 's portrait of Earth on July 19, 2013

    The world watched on July 19, 2013, as NASA’s Cassini spacecraft snaps Earth's image from the far side of Saturn.  With the brilliant light of the Sun blocked by Saturn itself, the ringed planet loomed large in the foreground, with Earth appearing as a very distant "Pale Blue Dot."

    “It was a day for all the world to celebrate,” said Cassini imaging team leader Carolyn Porco of the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, who first recognized the unique opportunity to create this new view of Earth.

    AWB was proud to coordinate worldwide astronomy events in celebration of The Day The Earth Smiled (TDTES), in cooperation with its founder, Carolyn Porco.

About The Day the Earth Smiled

Photographs of Earth taken from space are among the most iconic images in the history of space exploration. Think of the famed “Earthrise” photo from Apollo 8 or the “Pale Blue Dot” shot of our home taken from beyond the orbit of Neptune by Voyager 1 in 1990. The Cassini team aimed to make another Earth portrait from Saturn on. July 19, 2013 was The Day the Earth Smiled, and Cassini snapped our portrait, with a silhouette of Saturn eclipsing the Sun in the foreground, between 21:27 and 21:42 UTC that day.

Program Goals

  • Increase awareness of the unique photograph being taken of Earth from a spacecraft at Saturn
  • Engage the public in this extremely rare event
  • Register and share local events of Saturn observing and outreach
  • Bring people around the world together through this common experience
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