Wow! Perseverance Sees a Solar Eclipse on Mars

By Nancy Atkinson April 20, 2022
Wow! Perseverance Sees a Solar Eclipse on Mars

Imagine standing on Mars, and seeing this with your own eyes.

The Perseverance rover watched as the potato-shaped moon Phobos passed in front of the Sun, from the vantage point of Jezero Crater on Mars. Perseverance used its high-resolution Mastcam-Z camera system to shoot video of Phobos, and NASA says the result is the most zoomed-in, highest frame-rate observation of a Phobos solar eclipse ever taken from the Martian surface.

https://youtu.be/aKK7vS2CHC8

The stunning eclipse took place on April 2, 2022 (Earth date, of course) and the eclipse lasted a little over 40 seconds. That means this video is very close to what Perseverance witnessed in real time. The time it takes for Phobos eclipse the Sun is much less time than a typical solar eclipse involving Earth’s Moon, since Phobos is about 157 times smaller than our own Moon. The Mastcam-Z has special solar filters that allow it to stare directly at the Sun. The video is of such high resolution, that even sunspots are visible on the Sun.

https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/status/1516864191415525376

Scientists say that each time these eclipses are observed, it allow them to measure subtle shifts in Phobos’ orbit over time. The moon’s tidal forces pull on the deep interior of the Red Planet, as well as its crust and mantle, and so studying how much Phobos shifts over time reveals something about how resistant the crust and mantle are, and thus what kinds of materials they’re made of.

All I know is, this is incredibly awe-inspiring.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com