NASA’s Perseverance Rover has captured a captivating view of Phobos, one of the two moons of Mars, eclipsing the Sun from the Martian surface.
While the celestial event may seem ominous to any potential Martian microbe (if it even exists), the true portent lies in the inevitable fate of Phobos.
Scientists predict that this moon, the closest to Mars, is destined to crash into the red planet in 50 million years or disintegrate into a ring..
The fateful journey of Phobos
Phobos, the ‘doomed’ moon, is inching closer to Mars at the rate of six feet every hundred years. Scientists have long known that this celestial body is destined to meet its end by crashing into Mars or breaking up into a ring.
“Scientists already know that Phobos is doomed,” NASA said in a statement about the recent eclipse captured by Perseverance. “The moon is approaching the Martian surface and is destined to crash into the planet in tens of millions of years. But observations of eclipses from the surface of Mars over the past two decades have also allowed scientists to refine their understanding of Phobos’s slowness.”
As we reflect on eclipses witnessed from the surface of Mars, we are reminded of Earth’s own cosmic dance. Our Moon, gradually moving away from Earth at 1.5 inches per year, will eventually result in fewer and fewer total solar eclipses in the future.
The actual occurrence of the Moon perfectly eclipsing the Sun is a lovely coincidence.. Resembling the size of the Moon when viewed from Earth, it creates an impressive visual phenomenon during total solar eclipses.
Looking to the future, total solar eclipses on Earth will become rarer as the Moon continues to recedereducing its apparent size in the sky.
As cosmic events unfold around us, a distant fate awaits Earth. The Sun, in its final stages, will transform into a Red Giant and eventually engulf our planet, ending our journey together with the Moon.
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