NASA releases photo of earth taken near Saturn

HOUSTON (WABC) -- Ever wonder what the earth looks like from other planets in our galaxy?

Well, from far, far away, it looks just like another star in the universe.

NASA has released a new picture of what we look like from 900 million miles away.

The Cassini spacecraft took the picture a few days ago from its perch in the Saturn system.

The bright light in the center is the earth, and just next to it is the moon.

NASA invited the public to look skyward and wave at Saturn and Mercury last Friday in what was billed as an interplanetary photo op.

While the Cassini orbits around Saturn, the Messenger craft is circling Mercury.

At the time of Friday's Cassini photo shoot, North America was in sunlight. Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia were illuminated in portraits by Messenger on Friday and Saturday.

Scientists say the snapshots of Earth are part of a bigger effort to study Saturn's shimmering rings and search for moons around Mercury.

It'll take days to weeks to process all the images.

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