Who knew that a little spacecraft located more than 100 million kilometers (62 million miles) from Earth could be in such an ideal location at the perfect time to witness an epic and rare occurrence in space?
The Mars Express spacecraft, operated by the European Space Agency (ESA) to monitor the red planet, recently captured an eclipse including Jupiter and its four Galilean moons and the smaller Martian moon Deimos.
Rare Alignment
As reported first by ScienceAlert, the distance between Mars and its enormous neighbor at the time was around 745 million kilometers, but for a fleeting moment, Deimos and the Jovian system appeared to be one.
The alignment of these celestial bodies on Feb. 14, was captured on camera and assembled into a movie from a collection of 80 photos.
ESA explained that such an alignment is extremely rare because it requires Deimos to be precisely located in the orbital plane of Jupiter's moons.
Deimos, only 15 kilometers long, may be seen in the video traveling slowly across the screen from left to right. The ice moon Europa and the enormous moon Ganymede are obscured as it passes, appearing as tiny, star-like specks.
These are all followed by the disc of Jupiter, the volcanic moon Io, and then Callisto, which is the second-largest moon of Jupiter.
Since the Martian moons are so small and faint, it is difficult to determine their positions and orbits from Earth. However, these observations helped Mars scientists achieve just that.
It is unknown if Deimos and Phobos, Mars' two largest moons, were formerly fragments of a larger body that broke apart or an asteroid that was passing by and got stuck in Mars' gravity.
Read also: 'Largest Canyon in The Solar System:' ESA's Mars Express Snaps Stunning Views of Mars's Grand Canyon
Future Mars and Jupiter Missions
The ESA-led JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (Juice) mission is set to go to Jupiter and observe its three largest icy moons. It is planned to launch in 2023 and enter the Jupiter system in 2031.
The moons Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa, will all be the subject of flybys by Juice to research their surfaces and interiors, which are believed to have oceans.
These observations will aid in understanding the circumstances that led to the evolution of life in our Solar System and the formation of planets, according to ESA.
The origins and makeup of Mars' moons remain mostly a mystery. Upcoming missions like the JAXA-led Martian Moon eXploration mission (MMX), which include funding from the ESA, will seek to unravel these mysteries.
Deimos will be monitored by MMX, and a lander will be sent to Phobos to gather and bring back a surface sample.
Future missions like MMX and Juice will need precise orbit measurements, like those provided by occultations, to determine the exact locations of the moons.
Related Article: Weird Object on Mars: NASA Curiosity Rover Spots Strange Twisting Rock Towers
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Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla
