Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Title:
Martian Eclipses: Deimos and Phobos
Original Caption Released with Image:




This panel combines the first photographs of solar eclipses by Mars' two moons. The panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured the images as the first in a planned series of eclipse observations by Opportunity and Spirit.

The Deimos image was taken at 03:04 Universal Time on March 4, 2004. This irregularly shaped moon is only 15 kilometers (9 miles) across in its longest dimension. It appears as just a speck in front of the disc of the Sun. The Phobos image was taken as that moon grazed the edge of the solar disc at 02:46 Universal Time on March 7, 2004. Phobos is 27 kilometers (17 miles) in its longest dimension. Its apparent size relative to Deimos is even greater because it orbits much closer to Mars' surface than Deimos does.
Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Cornell
Produced By:
Cornell University
Mission:
Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
Spacecraft:
Opportunity
Target Name:
Sol (our sun)
Instrument:
Panoramic Camera
Product Size:
399 samples x 198 lines
facet_what:
Sun
facet_what:
Moon
facet_what:
Spirit
facet_what:
Mars
facet_what:
Opportunity
facet_what:
Panoramic Camera
facet_what:
Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
facet_where:
Mars
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_when:
March 4, 2004
facet_when:
March 7, 2004
facet_when_year:
2004
Image #:
PIA05518
UID:
SPD-PHOTJ-PIA05518
orignial url:

Martian Eclipses: Deimos and Phobos