Imagine standing on Mars and seeing it from your own perspective.
The Perseverance rover watched as the potato-shaped moon Phobos passed in front of the Sun. Perseverance used its high-resolution Mastcam-Z camera system to shoot video of Phobos, and NASA says the result is the most zoom-in, highest frame-rate observation of a Phobos solar eclipse ever taken from the Martian surface.
The eclipse took place on April 2, 2022, and lasted over 40 seconds. This video is very close to what Perseverance saw. The time it takes for Phobos eclipse the Sun is less than a typical solar eclipse involving Earth's Moon. The Mastcam-Z has special solar filters that allow it to stare directly at the Sun. Even sunspots are visible on the Sun in the high resolution video.
Truly fascinating. I zoomed in with my Mastcam-Z camera on a Phobos solar eclipse. This detailed video can help scientists on my team better understand the Martian moon’s orbit and how its gravity affects the interior of Mars, including its crust & mantle. https://t.co/jVdJ4UwhDx pic.twitter.com/q45HwKwLIS
— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) April 20, 2022
The scientists say that the eclipses allow them to measure subtle shifts in Phobos over time. The moon's tidal forces pull on the deep interior of the Red Planet, as well as its crust and mantle, and so studying how much Phobos shifts over time reveals something about how resistant the crust and mantle are.
This is awe-inspiring.
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