                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                 2026 May 24

                  A Martian Eclipse: Phobos Crosses the Sun
               Video Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, ASU MSSS, SSI

   Explanation: What's that passing in front of the Sun? It looks like a
   moon, but it can't be Earth's Moon, because it isn't round. It's the
   Martian moon Phobos. The featured video was taken from the surface of
   Mars in 2022 by the Perseverance rover. Phobos, at 11.5 kilometers
   across, is 150 times smaller than Luna (our moon) in diameter, but also
   50 times closer to its parent planet. In fact, Phobos is so close to
   Mars that it is expected to break up and crash into Mars within the
   next 50 million years. In the near term, the low orbit of Phobos
   results in more rapid solar eclipses than seen from Earth. The featured
   video is shown in real time -- the transit really took about 40
   seconds, as shown. The videographer -- the robotic rover Perseverance
   (Percy) -- continues to explore Jezero Crater on Mars, searching not
   only for clues to the watery history of the now dry world, but evidence
   of ancient microbial life.

                       Tomorrow's picture: space globs
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
                  NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

