A black spot, like a shadow puppet crossing the sun.

A phenomenon like we do not see on Earth and for good reason, it is a phenomenon observed from Mars.

On April 2, the Perseverance rover witnessed an eclipse of the Sun by Phobos, one of the two moons of the red planet, reports

Futura Sciences

.

Truly fascinating.

I zoomed in with my Mastcam-Z camera on a Phobos solar eclipse.

This detailed video can help scientists on my team better understand the Martian moon's orbit and how its gravity affects the interior of Mars, including its crust & mantle.

https://t.co/jVdJ4UwhDx pic.twitter.com/q45HwKwLIS

— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) April 20, 2022


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This is a partial eclipse.

The solar star is not completely covered because Phobos measures only 27 kilometers in diameter.

The Martian satellite passes in front of the Sun for an extremely short time.

If you have to wait about two hours on Earth to see the Moon pass in front of the Sun, Phobos completes its course in "just over 40 seconds", specifies NASA on its website.

Unprecedented quality

The images were captured by the Perseverance rover which was in the Jezero crater area.

They are of unparalleled quality.

NASA clarified that if other devices had already immortalized eclipses on Mars, the image had never been so zoomed, in high resolution, with details.

“I knew it was going to be good, but I didn't expect it to be so amazing,” said Rachel Howson, who is part of the team in charge of the all-terrain vehicle.

The lesser moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, take their names respectively from Fear and Terror in Greek myths.

They are of interest to scientists trying to understand their role on the red planet.

Phobos, which revolves around Mars at an altitude of only 6,000 km, should eventually crash into the planet, but not before 50 million years.

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  • Space

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