Mars’ moon Phobos and Earth seen in a composite of 5 brief direct exposures and 12 long direct exposures all handled Sept. 5, 2024 by NASA’s Curiosity rover. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)
NASA’s Curiosity rover has actually recorded a magnificent sight from the surface area of Mars: The first-ever picture of Earth together with the Red Planet’s moon Phobos.
Utilizing its Mast Camera, or Mastcam for brief, Curiosity photographed Earth setting the Red Planet night sky while among Mars’ 2 moons, Phobos, increases on Sept. 5. The rover’s brand-new view, which consists of 5 brief direct exposures and 12 long direct exposures, records a rocky Martian outcrop in the foreground and an extensive sky with Earth and Phobos seen in the upper. An inset in the image, which NASA shared online on Sept. 13, determines Phobos left wing and Earth on the right.
“It’s the very first time a picture of the 2 heavenly bodies have actually been caught together from the surface area of Mars,” NASA authorities stated in a declaration launching the brand-new image. “From the rover’s viewpoint, the inset location would have to do with half the width of a thumb held at arm’s length.”
Phobos is called after the Greek god of worry and is the bigger of Mars’ 2 moons. Its smaller sized buddy is called Deimos.
Phobos orbits the Red Planet 3 times a day at a range of just 3,700 miles (6,000 kilometers) from the Martian surface area, making it closer to its main body than any other recognized natural satellite to a world.
Related: Solar eclipse on Mars! Determination rover sees Martian moon Phobos cross the sun in impressive video
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover recorded the very first picture of Earth and Phobos together from the surface area of the Red Planet. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)
Offered its close distance, the moon is believed to be on a clash with Mars. It’s nearing the world at a rate of 6 feet (1.8 meters) every a century, which indicates that it will either crash into the Red Planet in about 50 million years or disintegrate from Mars’ gravitational impact.
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Interest has actually been checking out Mars for over a years, having actually landed in Gale Crater in August 2012. The image of Earth and Phobos was handled the 4,295 th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity’s objective. One Martian sol has to do with 24 hours and 40 minutes, making it a little longer than a single Earth day.
The rock structure caught in the foreground of the brand-new Curiosity view is a butte called Texoli situated on lower Mount Sharp within Gale crater. Texoli is a 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain that Curiosity has actually been rising considering that 2014 to assist unwind the history of Mars.
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