Earth is not the only place in the solar system where humanity has witnessed a solar eclipse. NASA's Mars rover Perseverance has been resting on the surface of the Red Planet, and the six-wheeled explorer captured at the beginning of the year how the planet's two small moons, Deimos and Phobos, cover the sun, and the footage was shared on Twitter as recently as a week ago.
In January, the Perseverance rover captured the silhouette of Deimos, one of Mars' two moons.
Deimos is 16 times closer to Mars than Earth's Moon, but its diameter is only 7.5 miles (12 km) compared to 2,159 miles (3,474 km).
The crossing took about 2 minutes and was accelerated 4 times. pic.twitter.com/uK9vR3GvKd
– NASA Mars (@NASAMars) April 4, 2024
An unusual phenomenon on Mars
“Although Mars's moons are neither large enough nor far enough to completely block the Sun, Perseverance has recently observed some stunning transits,” the space agency wrote in its post, hinting that the Red Planet's two moons are much smaller and more massive. Like asteroids, not the real moon Futurism.
Then the spacecraft observed Phobos eclipsing the sun in February. The video shows the crossing in real time.
Phobos is the larger of Mars's two moons, measuring 14 miles (22 km) in diameter. Eons from now, Phobos' orbit is expected to send it toward the surface of Mars. pic.twitter.com/3T8ORNWGcx
– NASA Mars (@NASAMars) April 4, 2024
–
Small and cratered, Deimos caused a solar eclipse in January, appearing in images taken by the spacecraft as a small, irregularly shaped black spot in front of the sun. In February, the spacecraft also captured an image of Phobos passing in front of the sun. This moon is larger than Deimos, but it is still just a bubble in front of the sun.
Perseverance rover on Mars. Image: Wikimedia
The spacecraft also captured another wonderful phenomenon, as it watched how Mercury, which appeared as a small dot, passed in front of the sun last year.
If you look carefully, you can even see the planets passing in front of the sun!
In October 2023, the Perseverance spacecraft captured Mercury as a small dot moving in front of the sun. This crossing, which was accelerated 400 times, took just under an hour. pic.twitter.com/ZbqGoV9GUR
– NASA Mars (@NASAMars) April 4, 2024
While these are all impressive celestial events, a total solar eclipse of Earth is currently unparalleled in the universe, as we know of no other celestial body whose moon completely obscures the sun.
However, a Martian eclipse is interesting because it allows scientists on Earth to measure and observe the two moons, which are being pulled in different directions from their orbits around the red planet.
Source: Pixabay
Phobos, which orbits Mars three times a day, moves closer to the surface by six meters every century. For this reason, it will either eventually collide with the planet or disintegrate into a ring of debris around our neighbor in about 50 million years.
Deimos orbits the Red Planet every 30 hours, and given its small size, it is expected to break free from the planet's gravitational constraints sooner or later.
Interestingly, our Moon will be in a very similar position later, moving away from Earth. Although it does so at such a slow rate that it is not expected to get rid of us before our Sun dies.
Worth reading:
