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Phobos is quite the speedy celestial body. Due to its dimensions, trajectory, and orbital characteristics, this moon completes an orbit around Mars approximately every 7.6 hours. This rapid movement significantly increases the chances of it obscuring the Sun compared to solar eclipses on Earth. If you found yourself in the right spot on Mars at just the right moment, you could witness this irregularly shaped moon briefly transforming the Sun into a massive googly eye. In February, NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover captured such a phenomenon, and astonishingly managed to photograph another eclipse only seven months later.
On September 30th, NASA revealed footage of yet another Phobos eclipse from its position in Jezero Crater on Mars. Once again, this peculiar event lasted merely 30 seconds—making Earth’s solar eclipses seem lengthy by comparison. Similar to its previous documentation, this latest footage was taken using Perseverance’s Mastcam-Z system, which was co-developed with Arizona State University.
The discovery of Mars’ two moons dates back to 1877 when astronomer Asaph Hall identified them and named them Phobos and Deimos after the Greek deities representing fear and terror. While their exact origins remain uncertain, scientists speculate that they may have either been asteroids captured by Mars’ gravitational field or remnants from the early Solar System formation.
[Related:[Related:[Related:[Related:A Martian solar eclipse transforms the sun into a giant googly eye.]
Measuring just 17 miles across, Phobos is approximately 157 times smaller than Earth’s moon; however, both moons are gradually moving in opposite directions. While Earth’s moon is receding at about 1.5 inches annually from our planet’s surface, both Phobos and Deimos are being pulled closer to Mars at an estimated rate of six feet per century. At this rate of approachment, experts predict that these moons will either collide with Mars in roughly 50 million years or break apart into numerous fragments that could form a ring system akin to Saturn’s.
In the meantime though there will be many more opportunities for Perseverance—and potentially future human explorers—to capture these fascinating events.
The post NASA’s Perseverance rover captures googly-eyed potato eclipse first appeared on Popular Science.
