confirmed Astronomical Society In Jeddah, the NASA roaming probe (Perseverance) captured an exceptional solar eclipse from its location inside the (Jizro) crater on the surface of Mars, where the small moon (not circular in shape) appears Phobos as it moves in front of the sun in a completely different view of the solar eclipse compared to what is seen from the sky The earth’s surface.
The experts of the Astronomical Society added that the eclipse was observed on Mars on April 2, 2022, and this image is one of 194 taken during the 40-second eclipse period and compiled in a wonderful video released by NASA today, Wednesday.
This isn’t the first time that a solar eclipse has been seen on Mars by a NASA rovers. In 2004, the rovers Spirit and Opportunity took the first pictures of Phobos during a solar eclipse, as did the rover Curiosity.
Capturing a solar eclipse on Mars helps researchers increase their understanding of the orbit of each moon around the Red Planet, however, a total solar eclipse on Mars is impossible.
For a total solar eclipse to occur, the apparent size of the Moon must be exactly the same apparent size as the Sun – as it happens on Earth, the Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun, but 400 times closer to us.
Phobos is the closest and largest of the two moons of Mars (the other is Deimos), its width is regarding 11.5 km, so it cannot cover the sun completely, so it causes something like an annular eclipse of the sun, although its view is completely different to an annular eclipse in the sky of Earth.
On Earth, we sometimes call annular eclipses a “ring of fire” or “ring of light” eclipse when our moon is at apogee – the farthest point from Earth in its elliptical orbit – and appears to be slightly smaller in the sky than the sun and not completely covering it.
It doesn’t get completely dark during an annular solar eclipse, so if you’re on Mars standing next to Perseverance on April 2, you should wear your eclipse glasses.
There is nothing better than Earth for observing the phenomenon of solar eclipses, whether total or annular, than anywhere else in our solar system.
