NASA Rover Snaps Pictures of an Eclipse from Mars
- 12 years ago
NASA’s Mars rover curiosity, has taken on a second job moonlighting as an astronomer. Last week Curiosity outfitted its high resolution cameras with protective filters and took pictures of the sun as Phobos, one of Mars’ two smaller moons sailed by.
It was a tricky shoot, and Phobos and its sister moon Deimos are closer to Mars then our moon is to earth. Last Thursday the moons started to cross paths: The rover took more than 600 images with its left and right camera, capturing part of the eclipse.
The images will help scientists learn more about Mars’ internal structure. In 10 to 15 million years, Phobos is expected to be so close to Mars that it will be torn apart by the planets gravity. The next Martian eclipses will take place in about 11 months; by then Curiosity will be in a better vantage point.
It was a tricky shoot, and Phobos and its sister moon Deimos are closer to Mars then our moon is to earth. Last Thursday the moons started to cross paths: The rover took more than 600 images with its left and right camera, capturing part of the eclipse.
The images will help scientists learn more about Mars’ internal structure. In 10 to 15 million years, Phobos is expected to be so close to Mars that it will be torn apart by the planets gravity. The next Martian eclipses will take place in about 11 months; by then Curiosity will be in a better vantage point.