PIA05518: Martian Eclipses: Deimos and Phobos
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.
Target Name: Sol (our sun)
Is a satellite of:
Mission: Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
Spacecraft: Opportunity
Instrument: Panoramic Camera
Product Size: 399 samples x 198 lines
Produced By: Cornell University
Full-Res TIFF: PIA05518.tif (44.62 kB)
Full-Res JPEG: PIA05518.jpg (10.21 kB)

Click on the image to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly cropped or reduced in size from original).

Original Caption Released with Image:

figure 1 for PIA05518

figure 2 for PIA05518

figure 4 for PIA05518
Deimos 		figure 3 for PIA05518
Phobos

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

Image Addition Date:
2004-03-08