What are these lines? (Picture included)

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The discussion centers on the interpretation of the colorful lines seen in Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot image, which are identified as artifacts due to the Earth's proximity to the sun. These lines are explained as lens flares resulting from the imaging geometry. Additionally, another participant references a photo taken by the Cassini spacecraft, clarifying that similar lines in that image represent Saturn's tenuous rings. The lines are a product of the imaging process, involving the combination of red, green, and blue spectral filters. Overall, the conversation emphasizes the technical aspects of image capture and the resulting visual phenomena.
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We've all seen Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot picture, taken by Voyager
[PLAIN]http://www.humanistsofutah.org/images/PaleBlueDot.jpg
My question is: What are those huge red, green, and orange lines?
 
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Essentially, these lines are artifacts resulting in the geometry of the situation, specifically the fact that the Earth is too close to the sun. The fact that the Earth happens to be lying in one is mere coincidence.
 
Those lines are Saturn's tenuous rings.


Excerpt:

The narrow tenuous G ring and the main rings are seen at the right.
The view looks down from about 15 degrees above the un-illuminated side of the rings.
Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this view. The image was taken by the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Sept. 15, 2006, at a distance of approximately 2.1 million kilometers (1.3 million miles) from Saturn and at a sun-Saturn- spacecraft angle of almost 179 degrees. Image scale is approximately 250 kilometers (155 miles) per pixel.
At this time, Cassini was nearly 1.5 billion kilometers (930 million miles) from Earth.
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/imagedetails/index.cfm?imageId=2279
 
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Radrook said:
Those lines are Saturn's tenuous rings.


Excerpt:

The narrow tenuous G ring and the main rings are seen at the right.
The view looks down from about 15 degrees above the un-illuminated side of the rings.
Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this view. The image was taken by the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Sept. 15, 2006, at a distance of approximately 2.1 million kilometers (1.3 million miles) from Saturn and at a sun-Saturn- spacecraft angle of almost 179 degrees. Image scale is approximately 250 kilometers (155 miles) per pixel.
At this time, Cassini was nearly 1.5 billion kilometers (930 million miles) from Earth.
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/imagedetails/index.cfm?imageId=2279

This picture was taken in 1990 by Voyager I...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_Blue_Dot
 

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