Carl Sagan has quite a legacy. As a scientist, writer, television host and so much more, he made his impact on the worlds of astronomy, entertainment and pop culture that will continue for many more years. Even though he left us all the way back in 1996, his name is still being used today in a variety of ways, and we can still feel his impact on various parts of our world.



The Asteroid



There is an asteroid that bears Sagan’s name and that is hurtling through space at this very moment. It is called Asteroid 2709 Sagan. If the story stopped there, it would be a noteworthy blip on his career, but it goes on to be something even more wonderful. Asteroid 4970 was found to be locked into orbit with the Sagan asteroid. They are intertwined together endlessly and unless something happens to them, they will stay locked together for eternity. This second asteroid was renamed Asteroid Druyan, after Sagan’s wife and a constant contributor to the sciences just like him.



Druyan is still alive today, and her and Carl Sagan share another connection to the stars that still lives on as well. That would be the message that was shot into space on two separate spacecrafts back in 1974. It is still hurtling through space on a quest for alien life to give its message to, and it contains the brainwaves of both Ann Druyan and Carl Sagan.



The Number



There was a catchphrase that Carl Sagan was famous for, even though he ironically never used it initially. That is “billions and billions”, which was classified as his catchphrase before he even said the words. It was only after these words had been linked to him for years that he finally gave in and said them as a form of fanservice.

Now this phrase lives on as one attached to his name, but it is also attached to number. A sagan is a number that is at least four billion, and it is considered a unit of measurement.



The Show



One of the accomplishments that Carl Sagan is most well known for is hosting the television series Cosmos. This show has been considered an inspiration to many of the great scientific minds of today, and it is well regarded for bringing lofty, complicated scientific concepts to the masses that most people would otherwise not understand or care about. Carl Sagan had a way of making many of these high ideas comprehensible for people who had not had his extensive education or experience.



The show continued years later under a sequel hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson. Like Sagan’s original show, it helped bring large scientific ideas to the general public. The show was continued once more, this time hosted by animator Seth MacFarlane in 2014. Sagan may no longer be hosting the show, but his legacy definitely lives on through it, and the creators and hosts of the show are constantly referencing what Mr. Sagan did for science during his lifetime.