Typically , the Perseverance rover is looking down , scouring the Martian terrain for rocks that may reveal aspects of the major planet ’s ancient past times . But over the last several week , the intrepid robot look up and caught two singular views : solar eclipse on the Red Planet , as the moonlight Phobos and Deimos go in front of the Sun .
Full solar eclipses do n’t happen on Mars . The planet ’s moons are too small to fully freeze out the Sun as they die in front of it . When they do pass , though , their movements can clue research worker into the moon ’ orbit , as well as how the moons ’ movements affect the Martian interior .
doggedness landed on Mars in February 2021 ; since then , the rover has kept busy visualize the satellite ’s geology and coring rock samples for their — cross your fingers — eventualreturn to Earth . perseveration hit 1,000 sols ( that is to say , Martian days ) on the planet in December 2023 .
Sped-up animation of Phobos moving in front of the Sun during the eclipse.Gif: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS/SSI/Gizmodo
The rover spotted the lunar month Deimos lapse in front of the Sun on January 20 corresponding to Sol 1037 . Weeks afterwards , gibe to February 8 on Earth , Perseverance witnessed Phobos making the same crossroad .
Phobos ( meaning care ) is six times more massive than Deimos ( scare ) ; in footage of the two Sun Myung Moon eclipse Mars , their sizing difference is apparent . Phobos block off out more of the Sun ’s light than Deimos . Deimos is also about 2.5 times far from Mars than Phobos , making it look like a pebble against the Sun liken to Phobos ’ bombastic , tater - shape silhouette .
playfulness fact : Phobos is on a hit course with Mars ; it will either break up or crash into the satellite in tens of millions of days , harmonise to NASA . Conversely , the tiny Deimos isslowly moving forth from Mars .
Deimos passing in front of the Sun on 20 March 2025.Gif:Simeon Schmauß / Flickr
Thankfully , that chip in Perseverance plenty of time to gaze at the Martian moons . That is , when it ’s taking a disruption from its typical , and arguably more of the essence , responsibility : searching for signs of ancient life on Mars .
More : Abigail Allwood ’s Hunt for Alien Fossils on Mars Has Begun
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