Mars Curiosity rover captures Phobos as it passes the sun during Martian solar ... - Daily Mail

Phobos passed directly in front of the sun on Curiosity's 369th Martian day Images were taken three seconds apart with the rover's telephoto lens Position of moon was a mile or two closer to the sun than originally thought By Ellie Zolfagharifard PUBLISHED: 05:46 EST, 2 September 2013 | UPDATED: 06:16 EST, 2 September 2013 The Curiosity rover has turned its cameras on Mars' moon, Phobos, to capture the most detailed image of any Martian lunar transit ever taken. The larger of Mars' two moons, Phobos, passed directly in front of the sun on the 369th Martian day of Curiosity's work on the planet. Phobos does not fully cover the sun, as seen from the surface of Mars, so the solar eclipse is what's called a ring, or annular, type. Scroll down for video... This set of three images shows views three seconds apart as the larger of Mars' two moons, Phobos, passed directly in front of the sun. Curiosity photographed this annular, or ring, eclipse with the telephoto-lens camera of the rover's Mast Camera on the 369th Martian day of Curiosity's work on Mars The pictures of the eclipse were taken three seconds apart with the rover's telephoto lens. The rover's observations of Phobos will help make researchers' knowledge of the moon's orbit even more precise. Because the eclipse occurred near mid-day at Curiosity's location on Mars, Phobos was nearly overhead, closer to the rover than it would have been earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon. This timing made Phobos' silhouette larger against the sun- as close to a total eclipse of the sun as is possible from Mars. 'This event occurred near noon at Curiosity's location, which put Phobos at its closest point to the rover, appearing larger against the sun than it would at other times of day,' said Mark Lemmon a co-investigator for use of Curiosity's Mastcam. Nasa's Mars Science Laboratory project is using Curiosity (a computer-generated illustration is pictured) landed on Mars in August last year for a two-year mission to determine if the planet most like Earth in the solar system has, or ever had, the an environment to sustain life According to the Nasa, the position of Phobos crossing the sun was a mile or two closer to the centre of the sun's position than researchers anticipated. Phobos has a diameter of less than one per cent of the Earth's moon and it orbits much closer to Mars than our moon's distance from Earth. The larger of Mars' moons measures just 22km in diameter but orbits just 3,700 miles from Mars' surface. MARS' LARGEST MOON: PHOBOS Phobos is the larger of Mars' two moons and  just 22km in diameter but orbits just 3,700 miles from Mars' surface. It is so close to the planet's surface that in some locations on Mars it cannot always be seen. Phobos is nearing Mars at a rate of 1.8 m every hundred years; at that rate, it will either crash into Mars in 50 million years or break up into a ring. Its most prominent feature is the 6-mile crater Stickney, its impact causing streak patterns across the moon's surface. When viewed from the surface of Mars, Phobos looks about half as wide the Earth's moon appears to viewers on Earth, according to the scientists. The Earth's moon is vast compared to the Martian moons, with a diameter of around 2,160 miles but orbits much further away from it's planet's surface at an average of 239,000 miles. The rover landed on Mars in August last year for a two-year mission to determine if the planet most like Earth in the solar system has, or ever had, the an environment to sustain life. Curiosity is now trundling along to its final destination - Mount Sharp - where it will look at the lower layers of the mountain that towers over the centre of Gale Crater by almost three and a half miles. Mount Sharp is of interest to scientists because its layers of rock can reveal information about the planet's changing environment over time. Last month, Curiosity captured the eclipse of the moons - Phobos and Deimos - for the first time from Mars. The larger moon, Phobos, passed in front of Deimos in the 30-second video comprised of 41 images taken by the robotic vehicle that were stitched together by scientists working at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Handle NASA pictures show two moons passing in the Martian night Share or comment on this article World's most affectionate cat wants owner to give it a kiss Shocking moment Kangaroo tries to drown a dog. Man is being yelled while using Vine Yikes. Marriage proposal ends in disaster... Car narrowly avoids being crushed by gigantic boulder Beaten and gang-raped. 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