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Phobos' shadow transits Mars

Phobos' shadow transits Mars
Phobos' shadow transits Mars In a six-frame animation spanning 15 minutes over January 30-31, 2010, the Mars Express Visual Monitoring Camera observed Phobos' shadow transiting Mars. It is late autumn in Mars' southern hemisphere, so the shadow of Phobos (which orbits exactly along Mars' equatorial plane) falls on Mars' high southern latitudes. Mars Express is looking down nearly onto Mars' south pole, which is in winter darkness; the bright splat at the center of the animation is the Argyre impact basin, with the crater Galle located on its rim. Phobos' shadow crosses northern Argyre and proceeds across Noachis terra. This is the first time that VMC wasknown to have imaged Phobos' shadow. ESA / animation by Emily Lakdawalla