Nasa's Curiosity rover has taken a photograph of Earth from the surface of Mars, showing what our planet looks like from 100 million miles away.

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It's rare that a single dot on a computer screen can elicit such a strong reaction, but there is something mind-blowing about Earth's diminutive appearance in the image.

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While we are used to seeing vivid greens and blues and swirling cloud when the Earth is photographed from space, from this distance the planet and its moon appear like no more than a couple of bright 'evening stars'.

The picture was posted on the official Twitter account for Curiosity, which Nasa has taken to anthropomorphising, with the rover tweeting on Thursday: "Look Back in Wonder... My 1st picture of Earth from the surface of Mars."

Taken about 80 minutes after Mars' sunset on Curiosity's 529th Martian day using its 'left eye camera', the image was 'processed to remove effects of cosmic rays', with Nasa releasing a second image blowing up the smudge to make Earth and the Moon clearly visible.

"A human observer with normal vision, if standing on Mars, could easily see Earth and the moon as two distinct, bright evening stars," a Nasa spokesperson said.

Nasa's Mars Science Laboratory Project is using Curiosity to assess ancient habitable environments and major changes in Martian environmental conditions, exploring whether it is possible that the planet once supported life.

Shape Created with Sketch. In pictures: Mars Exploration Rover Show all 12 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. In pictures: Mars Exploration Rover 1/12 Mars Exploration Rover Mars Rover, Curiosity. After traveling 8 1/2 months and 352 million miles, Curiosity attempted a landing on Mars in 2012 2/12 Mars Exploration Rover A self-portrait of the Mars rover Curiosity combines dozens of exposures taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 177th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on the planet Mars 3/12 Mars Exploration Rover Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover examines a rock on Mars with a set of tools at the end of its arm, which extends about 2 meters (7 feet) 4/12 Mars Exploration Rover This image mosaic taken by the panoramic camera on board the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rover's landing site, the Columbia Memorial Station, at Gusev Crater, Mars 5/12 Mars Exploration Rover Views of the Sojourner Mars Rover and surface of Mars Ares Vallis 6/12 Mars Exploration Rover A view of Mars southwest of the rover's landing site in the Gusev Crater. The landscape shows little variation in local topography, though a narrow peak only seven to eight kilometers away is visible on the horizon. A circular depression, similar to the one dubbed Sleepy Hollow, can be seen in the foreground 7/12 Mars Exploration Rover Mars planet pathfinder vehicle on planet Mars 8/12 Mars Exploration Rover Tracks made by Curiosity's tires during its first test drive as seen by Navcam: on board NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 16 9/12 Mars Exploration Rover A little more than two weeks after its arrival on Mars, the $2.5 billion rover, which landed on Mars has performed a battery of tests and appears ready to embark on its two-year mission to explore the Red Planet in the hunt for signs of life 10/12 Mars Exploration Rover Tracks made by Curiosity's tires during its first test drive on a mission to explore the Red Planet 11/12 Mars Exploration Rover Mars rover Opportunity's robotic arm as it stretched over the surface of Mars 12/12 Mars Exploration Rover NASA's Mars Rover Spirit took the first picture from Spirit since problems with communications began a week earlier. The image shows the robotic arm extended to the rock called Adirondack Nasa 1/12 Mars Exploration Rover Mars Rover, Curiosity. After traveling 8 1/2 months and 352 million miles, Curiosity attempted a landing on Mars in 2012 2/12 Mars Exploration Rover A self-portrait of the Mars rover Curiosity combines dozens of exposures taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 177th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on the planet Mars 3/12 Mars Exploration Rover Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover examines a rock on Mars with a set of tools at the end of its arm, which extends about 2 meters (7 feet) 4/12 Mars Exploration Rover This image mosaic taken by the panoramic camera on board the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rover's landing site, the Columbia Memorial Station, at Gusev Crater, Mars 5/12 Mars Exploration Rover Views of the Sojourner Mars Rover and surface of Mars Ares Vallis 6/12 Mars Exploration Rover A view of Mars southwest of the rover's landing site in the Gusev Crater. The landscape shows little variation in local topography, though a narrow peak only seven to eight kilometers away is visible on the horizon. A circular depression, similar to the one dubbed Sleepy Hollow, can be seen in the foreground 7/12 Mars Exploration Rover Mars planet pathfinder vehicle on planet Mars 8/12 Mars Exploration Rover Tracks made by Curiosity's tires during its first test drive as seen by Navcam: on board NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 16 9/12 Mars Exploration Rover A little more than two weeks after its arrival on Mars, the $2.5 billion rover, which landed on Mars has performed a battery of tests and appears ready to embark on its two-year mission to explore the Red Planet in the hunt for signs of life 10/12 Mars Exploration Rover Tracks made by Curiosity's tires during its first test drive on a mission to explore the Red Planet 11/12 Mars Exploration Rover Mars rover Opportunity's robotic arm as it stretched over the surface of Mars 12/12 Mars Exploration Rover NASA's Mars Rover Spirit took the first picture from Spirit since problems with communications began a week earlier. The image shows the robotic arm extended to the rock called Adirondack Nasa

Since landing in Gale Crater, it has discovered that an area known as Yellowknife Bay was indeed habitable once upon a time, finding "a lake-stream-groundwater system that might have existed for millions of years."