Perseverance Captures Another Phobos Transit

NASA’s Perseverance rover used its Mastcam-Z camera to record the silhouette of Phobos as the small Martian moon crossed the Sun on Aug. 12, 2026, the 1,948th Martian day (sol) of the mission. The team produced a tinted animation to show what a person would see from the Martian surface using protective solar eclipse glasses. Since landing at Jezero Crater in February 2021, Perseverance has captured several Phobos transits; comparing those recordings helps scientists refine the moon’s potato-shaped orbit and track how it is changing. Over very long timescales, Phobos’ orbit is expected to decay and send the moon toward Mars’ surface. Arizona State University leads Mastcam-Z operations, with Malin Space Science Systems and the Niels Bohr Institute as collaborators; JPL built and manages the rover.