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Last Post 3/12/2009 9:53 AM by Emilia Kilpua

solar eclipses

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3/12/2009 7:01 AM
Nicky E (FOX) Could you see a solar eclipse from Mars, and could you see both of its moons go across the sun at one time?

Emilia Kilpua

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3/12/2009 9:53 AM
An interesting question! Solar eclipses in Mars have actually been witnessed by the Opportunity rover. On March 4, 2004 the cameras on Opportunity photographed how Deimos glided across the solar disk and few days later the other moon, Phobos, passed the Sun. However, Phobos and Deimos are so small that they can cover only a part of the solar disk. Even Phobos being the larger moon covers only about half of the disk. So you cannot see the total solar eclipses at Mars. It is actually a nice coincidence that from the Earth the Sun and Moon appear to be the same size!