Happy V-Day to our planet, the "Pale Blue Dot"

The MoJo Daily newsletter, Monday through Friday. [View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter](     February 14, 2024 Hi, I’m Jackie, a science reporter at Mother Jones, and today, my editor allowed me to indulge my limitless nerdom and publish a love letter to my dearest “Pale Blue Dot”—one of the greatest photos ever taken in the history of the world. The image was captured on Valentine’s Day 1990—34 years ago today—by the spacecraft Voyager 1, from the outskirts of our solar system. In the image, the Earth is about a pixel wide, a minuscule fleck in a grainy sea of nothingness. As famed scientist Carl Sagan wrote in 1994 about the now-iconic image, “That’s here. That’s home. That’s us.” All of humanity sat, in his words, “on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.” As I wrote in my declaration of love—[which you can read in full here](—it’s fitting that “Pale Blue Dot” was taken on Valentine’s Day. It was, in its most basic form, an act of love. Even 34 years later, it serves as a paradoxical reminder of our insignificance—and our singular source of life. It is, quite literally, our everything. And today, as our planet is plagued by violent wars, a climate crisis, and the fallout of a devastating pandemic, and in a critical election year no less, that message feels more important than ever. Happy Valentine’s Day, dot. (And also to my boyfriend.) —Jackie Flynn Mogensen Advertisement [House Bookshop Ad]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [A Love Letter to the “Pale Blue Dot”]( Thirty-four years ago, Voyager 1 captured one of science's most iconic photos. BY JACKIE FLYNN MOGENSEN [Fiercely Independent] Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack. [Donate]( [Trending] [Democrat wins special election for George Santos' House seat]( BY ARIANNA COGHILL   [The House just voted to impeach Mayorkas. How did we get here?]( BY ISABELA DIAS   [My dad was a white slave, Kentucky Republican tells NAACP]( BY JULIANNE MCSHANE   [Taylor Swift's Super Bowl jet-setting highlights carbon removal problems]( BY TIK ROOT Advertisement [House Donations Ad]( [Special Feature] [Special Feature]( [Biden’s Israel politics are alienating a critical group: young people who power campaigns]( "Personally, I would have a harder time going to work for them," says one Biden 2020 staffer. BY ABBY VESOULIS Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Donate Monthly]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755