Reflections on the “Pale Blue Dot” on this Earth Day

“The Pale Blue Dot”, image of the Earth, smaller than 0.12 pixels taken by Voyager 1 spacecraft, as it was leaving our solar system in 1990, a legacy to all humankind, from the brilliant foresight of astrophysicist Carl Sagan, was the first thing that came to my mind this morning on this “Earth Day”.
Carl Sagan’s visionary insights on the tiny space our home, our earth occupies in this vast universe, how fragile it seems- as he describes in the image “a mote of dust suspended in that sunbeam” and why preserving Planet Earth, only home we humans know, resonates more than ever today with utmost urgency.

Simple joys of feeling the cool morning mist, and soft blades of grass on my bare feet, subtle fragrance of earth after a drizzle and rain, feel of soil and the occasional earthworms that makes it way out from its burrows I dig the earth, to plant are some of the experiences that I cherish, which I think is a luxury that’s available, just by the sheer fact that I live on this “Pale Blue Dot”, and call it Home.

It’s a dichotomy of abundance and fragility – abundance in natural resources provided by Earth for harboring life on one hand, and the fragility posed by the situation that if we lose these resources, life in itself is vulnerable to continue, and as Carl Sagan pointed out more than 25 years ago, “The Earth is the only world known, so far, to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate….. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment, the Earth is where we make our stand.”

This painting is still a work in progress, I started painting this piece as a study, experimenting with new technique, but seemed relevant to share as it is now, as the greens in this scenery to me is a depiction of all that our planet offers us, natural resources for life to thrive.

And if we are not cognizant and responsible, as Sagan puts it –  we, as a species, have nowhere else to go “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.” Lets work together to preserve and pass on this bounty of Nature to generations to come, that’s a legacy worth leaving behind.

“This updated version of the iconic “Pale Blue Dot” image taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft uses modern image-processing software and techniques to revisit the well-known Voyager view while attempting to respect the original data and intent of those who planned the images.”

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech