And although explorers appear to have observed a potato shadow crossing the red surface of Mars, this is actually Phobos, one of Mars’ two small moons.
Perseverance saw a 40-second eclipse on April 2. If this sounds much shorter than the typical solar eclipse we might see from Earth when our moon passes in front of the sun, it’s because Phobos is about 157 times smaller than our moon.
The rover continues the 18-year history of eclipse-observing robots on Mars, which began with NASA’s Spirit and Opportunity rover in 2004, followed by recording the first video of a Martian eclipse in 2019.
Perseverance delivers the best video of this eclipse to date using the zoom capabilities of the mast-mounted camera system.
“I knew it was going to be great, but I didn’t expect it to be so great,” Rachel Howson, Mastcam-Z camera operator at Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, said in a statement. “It was like a birthday or a holiday when they arrived. You know what’s coming, but there’s still an element of surprise when you see the finished product.”
The video was also captured in color using a solar filter to reduce the intensity of the light, allowing scientists to gain more knowledge about Phobos.
“You can see details in the shape of Phobos’ shadow, such as ridges and outcrops in the lunar landscape,” said Mark Lemon, a planetary astronomer with the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, in a statement. “You can also see sunspots. It’s great to see this eclipse as the spacecraft from Mars sees it.”
The tidal forces of Phobos’ gravitational pull cause the red planet’s crust and mantle to stretch, slightly changing the shape of Mars’ rock. In turn, this gravitational force changes Phobos’ orbit.
Observations of the eclipse at Phobos help scientists track how the moon’s orbit has changed over time and better predict when Phobos’ time will end.
Phobos is by nature doomed and undergoes a slow death spiral with each orbit as it constantly hovers near the Martian surface. Tens of millions of years from now, it will either crash into Mars or burst into pieces raining down on Mars.
As scientists use eclipse observations to learn more about Phobos, the Train of Perseverance has hit its next exciting target: the ancient river delta at Jezero Crater. The robotic rover will collect fan-shaped rock and sediment samples at the crater rim, which were created where rivers drained the crater lake billions of years ago.
“Delta Jezero promises to be a veritable geological feast and one of the best locations on Mars to look for signs of past microscopic life,” Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement. “The answer is right there – and Team Perseverance is ready to find it.”
The Ingenuity helicopter completed its 26th flight on the first anniversary of its maiden flight a year ago.
The helicopter will act as aerial reconnaissance while Perseverance explores the delta.
–
–
“Beer fan. A devoted pop culture scholar. Coffee Ninja. Evil zombie fan. Organizer.”
—-
–
