Apr 23, 2022, 10:07 AM IST
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover captured an eclipse featuring Phobos, one of the Red Planet's two moons. The sped-up video shows the highest frame rate and most zoomed-in view of a Phobos solar eclipse ever taken from the Martian surface.
The visuals from NASA's rovers give scientists new perspectives on the subtle shifts in the moons' orbits. Phobos is inching very slowly towards Mars. According to scientists, they will collide millions of years from now. The eclipses help scientists understand the intense tidal forces created by Phobos's proximity to the Red Planet.
The Perseverance rover's main objective is to look for signs of ancient microbial life on Mars. The rover is examining the Red Planet's regolith, rock and dust, and is the first rover to collect and cache samples.
The video, which was shared by NASA a day ago, has since garnered over 1.7 million views. On social media, users have been raving about the video with some terming it as 'enchanting' while others viewed it as 'magical'.