Emily Lakdawalla • June 17, 2011
Check out an update on this post, in which Jupiter's moons can be spotted near the planet. --ESL
OK, one cool video deserves another this Friday! Here is a really cool view of Phobos in the foreground with gigantic (but very distant) Jupiter sitting in the background, a fortuitous alignment that the Mars Express High-Resolution Stereo Camera team took advantage of on June 1:
ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
This photo was just one of a series of 104 that they captured, which they also released as an animation:
ESA / DLR / FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
Apart from being cool, this set of images will help astronomers refine their understanding of the path of Phobos' orbit around Mars, which varies with time because of Phobos' small mass and extreme proximity to its planet.
By the way, this image really reminds me of another recent one of ESA's with a lumpy body in the foreground and a giant planet in the background:
Read more: Rosetta and Philae, Mars Express, asteroid 21 Lutetia, Phobos
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