PIA25179-MarsPerseveranceRover-PhobosSolarEclipse-20220420
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z camera system to shoot video of Phobos, one of Mars' two moons, eclipsing the Sun. It's the most zoomed-in, highest-frame-rate observation of a Phobos solar eclipse ever taken from the Martian surface.
Several Mars rovers have observed Phobos crossing in front of the Sun over the past 18 years. Spirit and Opportunity made the first observations in 2004; Curiosity in 2019 was the first to record video of the event. Each time these eclipses are observed, they allow scientists to measure subtle shifts in Phobos' orbit over time. The moon's tidal forces pull on the deep interior crust and mantle of the Red Planet; 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.
It's long been known that Phobos is drifting toward the Martian surface year by year; tens of millions of years from now, it is expected to crash into the planet or fragment into chunks that will impact the planet. Studying Phobos' orbit also allows scientists to refine predictions of when the doomed moon will crash into Mars.
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Phobosdurchgang vom MarsEin Durchgang des Marsmondes Phobos vor der Sonne, von Mars aus gesehen, findet statt, wenn Phobos direkt zwischen der Sonne und einem Punkt auf der Oberfläche des Mars vorbeizieht. Hierbei wird für einen Beobachter am Mars ein großer Teil der Sonnenscheibe verdeckt, weil Phobos eine sehr niedrige Umlaufbahn hat. Während solcher Durchgänge erschien Phobos einem Beobachter als unregelmäßig geformter schwarzer Fleck, der über die Sonnenscheibe zieht; wegen der kurzen Umlaufperiode von 7,6 Stunden dauert dies nur etwa 30 Sekunden. .. weiterlesen