Space
NASA’s Curiosity Captures New Video of Martian Moonrise [VIDEO]
Benita Matilda
First Posted: Jul 04, 2013 05:43 AM EDT
NASA's Curiosity Rover has captured an intriguing new video of the Martian moonrise in the night sky.
The latest video captured by NASA's Curiosity Rover reveals stunning footage of 'Phobos', which is the larger and closer of the two natural satellites of Mars, as it rose in the night sky. Phobos is the larger of Mars' two moons.
This latest achievement was announced via Curiosity's Twitter account. The video was created with 86 frames snapped by Curiosity's navigation camera. The video taken on June 28, 2013, beautifully shows the Martian moon Phobos rising after sunset. The images were snapped over the course of 27 minutes.
Post on Twitter Said: "You asked for the moon. Here it is! See footage from my Navcam of Mars' moon Phobos rising."
Phobos is the small irregular shaped object that orbits around 9,400 km from the center of Mars and it is 7.24 times as massive as the second moon Deimos. It was initially discovered in 1877. Phobos is heavily cratered an is said to be the least reflective bodies in the solar system. Due to its low mass and low gravity it does not have an atmosphere. Due to its closeness to the planet Mars, it moves faster around Mars than Mars rotates, reports Wikipedia.
Scientists argue that Mar's two moons were once asteroids. This is because both Phobos and Deimos consist of carbonaceous C type asteroids. But the stable orbit makes their assumption highly debateable.
Curiosity landed in Gale Crate near the Equator last August on a mission to find out whether the Martian environment was favourable for microbes. Since then it has been trekking across the Martian surface drilling into rocks, collecting samples and helping our scientists know more about the Martian environment who are curiously waiting to study the hidden clues embedded in the alien planet.
Curiosity never disappoints space lovers, till date from its journeys it has provided interesting images. The first rock it drilled was 'Cumberland; and it collected first samples of Mars from a rcok 'John Klein'. It managed to capture a shiny metallic object protruding from the Martian rock, as well as a 'Mars flower' that was infact a benign plastic left by the car sized Curiosity itself. It has spotted granules similar to metal on the rock. It detected a stream that ran vigorously across the Martian area in the past. It also provided images of Martian rock having ancient streambed gravels.
This is not first time that Curiosity has captured Phobos. In September 2012, with the help of the MastCam camera, rover captured Phobos as it crossed the face of the sun,, reports Huffington Post.
Rover presently continues to trek towards Mount Sharp that provides new discoveries about the history of Martian environment. Curiosity is expected to continue with its mission for the next two years.
See Now:
NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone
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First Posted: Jul 04, 2013 05:43 AM EDT
NASA's Curiosity Rover has captured an intriguing new video of the Martian moonrise in the night sky.
The latest video captured by NASA's Curiosity Rover reveals stunning footage of 'Phobos', which is the larger and closer of the two natural satellites of Mars, as it rose in the night sky. Phobos is the larger of Mars' two moons.
This latest achievement was announced via Curiosity's Twitter account. The video was created with 86 frames snapped by Curiosity's navigation camera. The video taken on June 28, 2013, beautifully shows the Martian moon Phobos rising after sunset. The images were snapped over the course of 27 minutes.
Post on Twitter Said: "You asked for the moon. Here it is! See footage from my Navcam of Mars' moon Phobos rising."
Phobos is the small irregular shaped object that orbits around 9,400 km from the center of Mars and it is 7.24 times as massive as the second moon Deimos. It was initially discovered in 1877. Phobos is heavily cratered an is said to be the least reflective bodies in the solar system. Due to its low mass and low gravity it does not have an atmosphere. Due to its closeness to the planet Mars, it moves faster around Mars than Mars rotates, reports Wikipedia.
Scientists argue that Mar's two moons were once asteroids. This is because both Phobos and Deimos consist of carbonaceous C type asteroids. But the stable orbit makes their assumption highly debateable.
Curiosity landed in Gale Crate near the Equator last August on a mission to find out whether the Martian environment was favourable for microbes. Since then it has been trekking across the Martian surface drilling into rocks, collecting samples and helping our scientists know more about the Martian environment who are curiously waiting to study the hidden clues embedded in the alien planet.
Curiosity never disappoints space lovers, till date from its journeys it has provided interesting images. The first rock it drilled was 'Cumberland; and it collected first samples of Mars from a rcok 'John Klein'. It managed to capture a shiny metallic object protruding from the Martian rock, as well as a 'Mars flower' that was infact a benign plastic left by the car sized Curiosity itself. It has spotted granules similar to metal on the rock. It detected a stream that ran vigorously across the Martian area in the past. It also provided images of Martian rock having ancient streambed gravels.
This is not first time that Curiosity has captured Phobos. In September 2012, with the help of the MastCam camera, rover captured Phobos as it crossed the face of the sun,, reports Huffington Post.
Rover presently continues to trek towards Mount Sharp that provides new discoveries about the history of Martian environment. Curiosity is expected to continue with its mission for the next two years.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone