NASA’s Perseverance rover, stationed in the Jezero Crater on Mars, recently captured a stunning celestial event: Mars’ moon, Phobos, passing directly in front of the Sun, creating an unusual “googly eye” visual. The event, recorded on September 30, was documented by Perseverance’s Mastcam-Z camera, offering a rare and fascinating view of Mars’ sky. This footage, released by NASA, highlights the intriguing orbital dynamics of Phobos, adding to scientists’ knowledge of the moon’s trajectory and its gradual inward spiral toward Mars.
Since arriving in Jezero Crater in 2021, Perseverance has observed both the Martian surface and sky, and this latest capture on the rover’s 1,285th Martian day showcases Phobos’ rapid orbit. The moon’s swift movement allowed it to cross the Sun’s face in less than 30 seconds, producing the “googly eye” effect due to Phobos’ partial coverage of the sunlight. Unlike eclipses seen from Earth, these transits are brief, occurring every few hours due to Phobos’ tight 7.6-hour orbit around Mars.
Phobos, the larger of Mars’ two moons, was first named by astronomer Asaph Hall in 1877 after the Greek god symbolizing fear. Measuring just 27 kilometers across at its widest, it appears much smaller in Mars’ sky than Earth’s moon does here. Its orbit is slowly decreasing, and scientists project that within 50 million years, Phobos will collide with the Martian surface. Observations from Mars rovers, including previous data from Curiosity and Opportunity, have continuously provided essential insights into the orbits of Mars’ moons and their evolving paths.
Perseverance is part of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission, a project led by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to investigate Martian geology and astrobiology. It is the first mission to collect surface samples from Mars for a future return mission in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA). The Mastcam-Z, developed with contributions from Arizona State University, Malin Space Science Systems, and the Niels Bohr Institute, plays a key role in capturing high-resolution images, vital for geological study. Perseverance’s efforts continue NASA’s broader mission of preparing for human exploration of Mars, building on goals set with the Artemis lunar missions.
