The Pale Blue Dot and The Earthrise: Two of the Most Prominent Photographs Ever to Exist.

The Pale Blue Dot: The Voyager 1 image which depicts Earth amongst a ray of scattered light; Image source: NASA

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The above picture, took by the Voyager 1 -- a space probe launched in 1977 -- is one of the most important photographs in human history. The image shows our planet (the tiny dot) captured in a ray of scattered light. The picture, which was took on the Valentine's day of 1990, was also the last picture that the Voyager 1 took before leaving our solar system into the vast desolation of space, all alone. Though ironic to the Valentine's scenario at Earth, the Voyager 1 was determined to deliver its "Golden Record" message to any potential extraterrestrial life, and its last look at the Earth says it all.

The picture is significant for several other reasons: one being the prompting of astronaut Carl Sagan's book, "A Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space". In his book, Sagan remarked "Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives." One of the most recognisable astronomy quotes ever.

The picture, also depicted a contrast to the "Earthrise" captured by William Anders in 1968 during his Apollo 8 visit to the moon. While the 'Pale Blue Dot' iterated the fact that we are just a peck of mass within the unimaginable vastness of the universe, the Earthrise shows Earth rising from the darkness of space, displaying our oceans and clouds with utmost purity.

The Earthrise; Image source: NASA

The picture is a display of the magnificence of our planet and its immediate popularity resulted in millions of people becoming inspired to work towards preserving our wildlife along with the enclosing oceans, atmosphere and landscapes.

Earthrise, provided a new perspective to a an eager and a vulnerable population of human beings that was living through the

after-effects of a gruesome WWII that had several climatic effects as well; the perspective changed the way we thought about our home, as we began to feel the need to change for the better. The impact of the Earthrise was so much so that it led to the establishment of 'The Earth Day', which was first observed in 1970. In Anders's words, "We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth"

Though, the pictures showed different things, they meant the same. Both the Earthrise and the Pale Blue Dot were symbols of peace and emphasised the insignificance of wars caused by religious and political differences. As Anders once said, "This is the only home we have and yet we’re busy shooting at each other, threatening nuclear war, and wearing suicide vests. It amazes me." Sagan too, in his famous 1990 speech, remarked, "think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot" to implant a sense of realisation and a sense of identity among humans that all we are fighting for isn't worth it after all; a statement that shall be remembered forever for its ability to promote peace amongst the existing differences within a "very small stage in a vast cosmic arena".

Both of the images, one of the most prominent in the 20th century, succeeded in their ability to convey unique and powerful messages to humanity for us to protect our habitat. Both of these though, required a perspective different from what the majority of the images ever taken provide us with -- the difference is self-explanatory. As Sagan said, "our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity -- in all this vastness -- there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”

Makes you ponder about the world you live in, doesn't it?

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Praveen Senthil is the Co-founder and CEO of Serenity.