Pale Blue Dot - You Are Here (Carl Sagan)

32 years ago today voyager 1 turned its camera toward earth at a distance of 6 billion km & snapped one of the most iconic pictures in the history of our civilization.  the picture was made at the request of the late astronomer carl sagan.  our earth, our only home, is but a pixel of blue.  dr. sagan was as much a poet as he was a scientist.  i am in awe of his speech about our pale blue dot.  his cadence, his voice, his word choices.  it is masterful.  

below is a video that incorporates imagery to match dr. sagan's oratory.  the pale blue dot brings me hope because i am alive & sentient at this extraordinary time to witness such marvels of science & technological achievement that allows us to explore the planets & stars & brings us a smidgen of knowledge of the cosmos & our place in it while at the same time making me feel that i am less than a mote of dust.  there is still so much to explore.  every new discovery in science opens another window to things we still have yet to discover & learn. we know very little.  we are smaller than small.  we barely know our own place.  this photograph & sagan's beautiful prose poem are objects of our own humility.  our home in the cosmos.  along with an intelligence that evolved from the universe as we gaze upward we also gaze inward.  as we learn more about the universe, we also learn about ourselves.  i hope we learn not just to survive our follies but to thrive in discoveries.  poetry has a place in this too.  for it is in song we praise.  our little blue pixel, & everything in it, orbiting an ordinary star in a lonely arm of the milky way.  one galaxy among potentially trillions of galaxies in this vast vast cosmos.