The European Space Agency (ESA) has released a series of images depicting a spectacular sight: a small Martian moon eclipsing the largest planet in the Solar System.
The images, taken by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) aboard the ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft that orbits the Red Planet, were combined into an animated sequence and show how one of Mars’ two moons, Deimos, passes in front of Jupiter and several of its moons: Europa, Ganymede, Io and Callisto.
“Deimos appears to move up and down in the animation due to the small swaying movements of Mars Express while it rotates to place the HRSC camera into position,” the space agency noted on its website. “The motion of the solar wings, which extend 12m from the spacecraft, as well as two long radar antennas, also contribute to the small vibrations.”
The images were taken by Mars Express on February 14 and March 30. The spacecraft also captured images of another eclipse, when the 15-kilometer-wide Deimos became briefly blocked by its larger sibling, Phobos, which measures about 27 kilometers along its longest axis.