Rare footage from Mars shows its moon Phobos crossing the Sun

This clip was recorded in 2022 by NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars. The footage is significant because it shows Mars’ largest moon, Phobos, crossing in front of the Sun in real time. The original transit lasted about 40 seconds in real time, but the footage has been sped up by the Starlust team for resharing. Key facts: • Phobos is just 11.5 km wide, making it about 150 times smaller in diameter than Earth’s Moon. • Despite its smaller size, Phobos orbits nearly 50 times closer to Mars than our Moon does to Earth. • Its close orbit causes much faster solar eclipses on Mars than those seen on Earth. • Scientists believe Phobos may eventually break apart or crash into Mars within the next 50 million years Video credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU / MSSS / SSI