Perseverance photographs Phobos as it eclipses the Earth
Phobos just after passing in front of the Earth. Click for full
sequence of image.
Cool image time! Using one of the two high resolution cameras on the Mars rover Perseverance, the science team were able to photograph the Martian moon Phobos as it passed in front of the Earth about 40 minutes after sunset.
The image to the right, expanded and brightened to post here, was the next-to-last in the sequence of seven pictures. The Earth is the bright dot to the lower left of Phobos, which except for its lower edge is mostly in shadow itself.
This composite of seven images from the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover shows Earth, visible as a small bright dot moving from upper left to lower right, passing behind the Martian moon Phobos on July 2, 2026, 1,907th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
The black background is the result of image processing that removed extraneous light in the background to enhance detail.
The press release also provides versions of this image where the image was not processed in this manner, and instead shows the true color of this twilight sky, blue-grey near the horizon, grey where the picture was taken, and reddish gray above as the sky begins to darken to night.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
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"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Make sure you let John Batchelor know you have photos of Phobosians.