PIA05556: Deimos Crosses Face of Sun


Deimos Crosses Face of Sun

Caption:

This animation shows the passing, or transit, of the martian moon Deimos over the Sun. This event is similar solar eclipse seen on Earth in which our Moon crosses in front of the Sun. The animation is made up of images taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on sol 39 of its mission. Deimos passed slightly closer to the center of the Sun than expected, and arrived about 30 seconds early. This observation will help refine our knowledge of the orbit and position of Deimos.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Sun Deimos, Mars
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/PIA05556
Identifier PIA05556