Universe Today
A raw image taken on September 21 by Curiosity's right Mastcam shows a daytime view of the Martian sky with a crescent-lit Phobos in the frame... barely visible, yes, but most certainly there. Very cool!
The image above is a crop of the
original
, contrast-enhanced and sharpened to bring out as much detail as possible.
The 13-km-wide Phobos has been spotted several times before by Mars rovers, most recently during a
solar transit
on September 13 (sol 37) but I'm not sure if it's ever been clearly captured on camera during the day before (i.e., not passing in front of the Sun.) If not, this will be a first!
See the latest news from the Curiosity mission
here
.
Added 9/28:
According to Universe Today publisher Fraser Cain, this is "the most dramatic space picture of the year"... whether you agree or not, hear what he had to say on this and other recent news during the
September 27 episode of the Weekly Space Hangout.