Watch NASA’s Mars video of a ‘googly eye’ during solar eclipse

As it continues its painstaking hunt for microbial life connected Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover has besides been reporting different other-worldly happenings occurring during its adventures.

Just recently, for example, 1 of its galore onboard cameras captured immoderate singular footage of a star eclipse arsenic Phobos — 1 of Mars’ 2 moons — passed betwixt nan reddish satellite and nan sun.

“Ever consciousness for illustration someone’s watching you?” Perseverance said successful a station connected societal media that included nan video of Phobos. “That’s really I felt erstwhile I observed this transit of nan martian satellite Phobos! The pupil successful this ‘googly eye’ is nan potato-shaped moon, and nan iris is our sun.”

Ever consciousness for illustration someone's watching you?

That's really I felt erstwhile I observed this transit of nan Martian satellite Phobos! The pupil successful this "googly eye" is nan potato-shaped moon, and nan iris is our Sun. Learn more: https://t.co/jUYoXY1jpK pic.twitter.com/7izVWOHEPH

— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) October 30, 2024

“Captured by nan rover’s Mastcam-Z connected September 30, nan 1,285th martian time of Perseverance’s mission, nan arena took spot erstwhile nan potato-shaped satellite passed straight betwixt nan sun and a constituent connected nan aboveground of Mars, obscuring a ample portion of nan Sun’s disc,” NASA’s JET Propulsion Laboratory, which is overseeing nan rover mission, said successful a post connected its website. “At nan aforesaid clip that Phobos appeared arsenic a ample achromatic disc quickly moving crossed nan look of nan sun, its shadow, aliases antumbra, moved crossed nan planet’s surface.”

Named aft nan deity of fearfulness and panic successful Greek mythology by astronomer Asaph Hall successful 1877, Phobos is astir 157 times smaller successful diameter than Earth’s moon, and is only astir 17 miles (27 kilometers) astatine its widest point, compared to nan 2,159.2 miles (3,475 kilometers) of Earth’s moon.

NASA’s Mars rovers person been capturing footage of Phobos since 2004, providing scientists pinch plentifulness of information to study much astir it. For example, it’s been recovered that Phobos’ orbit is almost perfectly successful statement pinch Mars’ equator and comparatively adjacent to nan planet’s surface, causing a accelerated orbit successful which it loops astir Mars successful a specified 7.6 hours. Phobos is moving person to Mars by astir six feet each 100 years, a descent that suggests it will collide pinch nan satellite — aliases break up owed to gravitational stresses — successful astir 50 cardinal years’ time.