NASA released a video on YouTube yesterday of a 40-second image of the solar eclipse captured by the Mastcam-Z camera onboard the Perseverance rover. Picture: Retrieved from NASA YouTube
NASA released a video on YouTube yesterday (21), the content is a 40-second picture of a solar eclipse captured by the Mastcam-Z camera onboard the Perseverance Mars rover. The most frequently observed image of a Martian eclipse.
Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. Phobos, the larger of the two, has a huge and unique impact crater that is 157 times smaller than the moon. There will only be partial solar eclipses. These observations could help scientists better understand the moon’s orbit and how its gravity pulls on the Martian surface, ultimately shaping the red planet’s crust and mantle.
This isn’t the first time a solar eclipse has been spotted from Mars, as many Mars rovers have observed Phobos passing in front of the sun over the past 18 years. Among them, the “Spirit” and “Opportunity” Mars rovers first observed a solar eclipse in 2004, and “Curiosity” also observed and recorded the first image in 2019. Whenever scientists observe a Martian eclipse, they are able to measure tiny changes in Phobos’ orbit.
【Filmlook here! 】