NASA posted footage from the Mars Perseverence Rover on Wednesday, offering humans a glimpse at what a solar eclipse looks like on Mars.
The Perseverance captured a 40-second clip of Phobos, one of Mars’s two moons, traveling in front of the sun on April 2 via its Mastcam-Z camera. While NASA has recorded solar eclipses in the past, this was the “most zoomed-in video of a Phobos solar eclipse yet — and at the highest-frame rate ever,” according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
“I knew it would be good, but I didn’t expect it to be this amazing,” said Malin Space Science Systems’ Rachel Howson in a statement.
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Although Perseverance sent low-quality thumbnails of the eclipse before the video’s transmission, it wasn’t until the footage was received that NASA’s researchers realized what the rover had captured.
“It feels like a birthday or holiday when they arrive,” Howson said. “You know what’s coming, but there is still an element of surprise when you get to see the final product.”
Phobos is significantly smaller than Earth’s moon, measuring 17 by 14 by 11 miles in diameter, and was not big enough to cause a total eclipse on Mars.
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This was not NASA’s first time capturing a solar eclipse on Mars. The space agency captured time-lapse photos of Phobos with its twin NASA rovers Spirit and Opportunity in 2004. The Curiosity rover captured two other solar eclipses with its navigation cameras in 2019.
While the eclipses are fascinating on their own, they also help NASA’s scientists understand the two moons’ relationship with Mars and their orbit trajectory.
