Check out the latest solar eclipse photo from the Perseverance rover!
On September 30, 2024, NASA’s Perseverance rover turned its Mastcam-Z camera to the Martian sky and captured a remarkable image of Phobos, Mars’ small, irregularly shaped moon, as it passed in front of the Sun during a partial solar eclipse. The event, observed on what scientists call Sol 1285 of the mission, showed the shadowy outline of Phobos – a potato-shaped rock – standing out against the sun’s bright disk.
A unique view of Mars’ potato-shaped moon
Unlike Earth’s spherical moon, Phobos has a distinctly irregular shape, closely resembling an asteroid. It measures approximately 27 by 22 by 18 kilometers and follows a unique, elliptical orbit around Mars just 6,000 kilometers from the surface. By comparison, Earth’s Moon is nearly 250,000 miles away, making Phobos seem incredibly close to Mars. Its proximity and fast orbit allow it to orbit Mars three times a day, creating frequent but short-lived eclipse opportunities for Martian observers.
Tracing the origins of Phobos
The origin of Phobos remains a mystery in planetary science. Although its appearance hints at an asteroid, there are many researchers I believe that Mars’ gravity did not capture Phobos, but may have formed next to the planet or in the aftermath of a colossal impact. The near-perfect orbit that Phobos maintains around Mars is one of the main reasons scientists have turned away from the asteroid capture theory, because captured bodies often exhibit irregular orbits.
Perseverance’s continued observation of eclipses on Mars
This isn’t the first time Perseverance has observed the transit of Phobos. The rover has previously photographed similar eclipses in April 2022 and February 2024. Other Mars rovers, such as NASA’s Spirit and Opportunity, captured images of Phobos eclipses in 2004, and Curiosity captured the event in 2019.
