What do eclipses look like on Mars? NASA’s Perseverance rover has captured an astronomical event that looks very different on the Red Planet than it does on Earth.
The rover, which has been on Mars since February 2021, captured the images with its next-generation Mastcam-Z camera – which has solar filters to look directly at the Sun – in early April. They show Mars’s tiny moon, Phobos, hovering over the face of the Sun in these spectacular eclipse images.
“These observations may help scientists better understand the moon’s orbit and how its gravity pulls on the Martian surface, which ultimately shapes the Red Planet’s crust and mantle,” said Jet Propulsion Laboratory officials. (JPL) of NASA who manage the Perseverance mission.
The impressive eclipse took place on April 2, 2022 (Earth date, of course) and the eclipse lasted just over 40 seconds, so the video that NASA has distributed is very close to what Perseverance witnessed in real time.
The time it takes for the moon Phobos to outshine the Sun is much less than a typical solar eclipse of Earth’s Moon , because Phobos is about 157 times smaller than our own satellite. Its other satellite, Deimos, is even smaller than Phobos.
The video is of such high quality that we can even glimpse sunspots. It is the most detailed footage of a solar eclipse from Phobos so far. And, in addition, they are the first images that show us a solar eclipse of Phobos in color.
that little moon
Phobos is the larger of the two moons of Mars , measuring 27 x 22 x 18 kilometers in diameter. It circles around Mars three times a day and is so close to the planet’s surface that you can’t always see it in some places on Mars. But the moon is doomed. Scientists say that Phobos will eventually crash into the surface of the Red Planet within a few tens of millions of years.
NASA hopes the images will help scientists better understand the dynamics between Phobos and Mars.
Referencia: NASA JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
