PIA05553: Martian Moon Blocks Sun


Martian Moon Blocks Sun

Caption:

This animation shows the transit of Mars' moon Phobos across the Sun. It is made up of images taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on the morning of the 45th martian day, or sol, of its mission. This observation will help refine our knowledge of the orbit and position of Phobos. Other spacecraft may be able to take better images of Phobos using this new information. This event is similar to solar eclipses seen on Earth in which our Moon passes in front of the Sun. The images were taken by the rover's panoramic camera.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Sun Mars, Phobos
System Sun Mars
Target Type Satellite Planet
Mission Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
Instrument Host Opportunity (MER-B)
Host Type Rover
Instrument Panoramic Camera (Pancam)
Detector
Extra Keywords Eclipse, Grayscale, Moon, Movie
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2004-03-12
Date in Caption
Image Credit NASA/JPL/Cornell
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA05553
Identifier PIA05553