Spot the dot



Cassini has been orbiting Saturn since 2004, taking stunning images of the gas giant and its rings and moons. In 2006, the spacecraft made this mosaic of photos backlit by the sun. With Saturn blocking the sun's glare, Cassini was able to reveal previously unknown faint rings – and the Earth, which you can just make out as a faint white speck on the left-hand side.



(Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)

First view of home



Grainy and drab, this image of Earth from space stands out not for its beauty but for being the very first. Snapped by NASA's Lunar Orbiter 1 on 23 August 1966, it was an afterthought: mission controllers told the spacecraft to turn around and point its cameras back at Earth just before it passed behind the moon.



(Image: NASA)

Earthrise



This iconic view of Earth rising over the lunar horizon was captured by Apollo 8 as it made the first crewed trip behind the moon in 1968. The same mission provided the first live television coverage of the lunar surface.



(Image: NASA) Advertisement

Earthrise from down under



The Japanese Kaguya lunar orbiter caught sight of Earth from beneath the moon's South Pole in 2007.



(Image: JAXA/NHK)

Blue marble



One of the most famous shots of Earth from space, this was taken by Apollo 17 in December 1972. The rare view of the whole planet, fully illuminated, was made possible by the way in which Earth, the spacecraft and the sun were aligned. Highlighting Earth's vulnerability, isolation and beauty, the iconic shot was adopted by the environmental movement.



(Image: NASA)

Crescent Earth



Even when you can barely see it, Earth is intriguing. This thin sliver of the planet illuminated by the sun was caught by the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft in 2007. Rosetta went on to fly by two asteroids, and is expected to land on a comet in 2014.



(Image: OSIRIS Team MPS / UPD / LAM / IAA / RSSD / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA)

Two half-domes



The Jupiter-exploring Galileo spacecraft caught this shot of Earth and its moon in 1992 from a distance of about 6.2 million kilometres.



(Image: NASA)