Watch the amazing video of the solar eclipse on Mars

NASA has released surreal footage of a solar eclipse on Mars, and yes… it's very different from the one on Earth

Like Earth, Mars also experiences times when its moons cast shadows on its surface. But the “eclipses” on Mars, captured by NASA's Opportunity, Curiosity and now Perseverance spacecraft, are very different from those on Earth. moons of mars, Phobos and Deimosrevolving around the planet in succession 7.65 and 30.35 hours, The blink of an eye if we take into account the 27 days of our moon. They are also much smaller, and have a considerably less “uniform” appearance.

Mars and its eclipses

With these properties in mind, those that occur on Mars are technically not eclipses as we know them here on Earth, but Transit Which They do not completely block sunlight. When the moons of Mars are placed between the Sun and potential observers on Mars, they do not completely cover the star as the Moon does. During a total solar eclipse on Earth, The lunar disk completely covers the sun's diskAlthough the Moon is actually much smaller. This happens due to a very special coincidence: Our Sun and Moon have the same apparent diameter. This means that when the two objects are observed in our sky, they appear to be approximately the same size. This size can vary slightly, because their orbits are not perfectly circular and so their dimensions can appear slightly larger or smaller depending on their orbital positions. Returning to Mars, the video below shows us what the transit looks like in the eyes of our dear friend Perseverance.

The strange effect of Phobos

Of the two moons, Phobos has the larger and more capable silhouette Blocking up to 40% of sunlight. Deimos, much further away and smaller, blocks much less light. During the various transits, scientists noticed a “strange effect” on the planet during the transit of Phobos. Landing Mars InsightAn observatory designed to measure seismic activity, He leans slightly during these events. The reason for this weak tendency has been attributed to: Mars surface deformationVery mild result Cooling effect because of Temporary decrease in solar radiation.

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