Phobos, the largest moon of the Red Planet, passed in front of the Sun's disk. The eclipse, which can be seen from Mars' perspective, was photographed by the Perseverance rover.
The Perseverance rover exploring Mars has turned its camera toward one of the Red Planet's moons. The 68 images published by the US space agency NASA show the silhouette of Phobos moving against the background of the sun’s disk and falling into the black space surrounding it. Below we show one of the photos.
A partial solar eclipse from Mars' perspective occurred on February 8.
This is not the first time a solar eclipse has been observed from the perspective of Mars. Thanks to the recording published by NASA, we can see what this phenomenon looks like in April 2022.
Partial lunar eclipse from the perspective of MarsNASA/JPL-Caltech/Arizona State University
Phobos and its future
Phobos is a natural satellite of Mars, about the size of a potato-shaped asteroid. It orbits several thousand kilometers from the planet's surface. It was discovered in 1887 by American astronomer Asaph Hall. Since the distance between Phobos and the Red Planet is constantly decreasing, scientists say they will collide in tens of millions of years. The second smaller moon of Mars is Deimos.
The Perseverance rover landed three years ago in Jezero Crater on Mars. This area, which may have been a lake billions of years ago, is the rover's main research target.
Mars Perseverance roverBab/Agence France-Presse/Adam Zieminovic/Maciej Zielinski
Main image source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Arizona State University
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