NASA reports that its Perseverance rover on Mars captures a sequence of images showing Earth moving in the Martian sky and temporarily vanishing behind Phobos. The observations were made using the rover’s Mastcam-Z instrument, which produces a composite of seven images. In the images, Earth appears as a small bright dot that moves across the field of view and then disappears behind Phobos’ crescent. NASA says the event occurs on July 2, 2026, corresponding to the rover’s 1,907th mission sol. The sources describe Earth and Phobos as appearing to “dance” due to their changing apparent positions from the rover’s perspective. One outlet notes that the view is captured from the surface of Mars. The images show a black background in parts of the composite, attributed to imaging conditions and how the composite is assembled. Overall, the reporting focuses on the successful telescopic capture of the Earth–Phobos alignment from Perseverance, providing a reference observation involving Mars’ larger moon, Phobos.
Perseverance rover captures Earth passing behind Mars’ moon Phobos
NASA reports that its Perseverance rover on Mars captures a sequence of images showing Earth moving in the Martian sky and temporarily vanishing behind Phobos. The observations were made using the rov...
- NASA’s Perseverance rover captures a composite of seven Mastcam-Z images showing Earth’s apparent motion in the Martian sky.
- Earth appears as a small bright point and then disappears behind Phobos’ crescent.
- The event is observed on July 2, 2026, during Perseverance’s 1,907th sol.
- Mastcam-Z provides the imagery from the rover’s location on Mars.
- The reported sequence presents the Earth–Phobos alignment as seen from the Martian surface.
This composite of seven images from the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard NASA's Perseverance Mars rover shows Earth, visible as a small bright dot moving from upper left to lower right, passing behind the Martian moon Phobos on July 2, 2026, the 1,907th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
2 hours agoDescription This composite of seven images from the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover shows Earth, visible as a small bright dot moving from upper left to lower right, passing behind the Martian moon Phobos on July 2, 2026, 1,907th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The black background is the result of […]
1 day agoEarth and the Martian moon Phobos dance together in a series of images recently acquired by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. Earth appears as a point of light in the Martian sky, disappearing behind the crescent of Phobos, the larger of Mars’ two moons. This is the first time humanity has captured from the surface of […]
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