NASA的毅力号火星探测器于7月2日首次记录到地球在火星表面被火卫一遮挡的现象。[1]从距离约1.95亿英里的火星上，地球在探测器的Mastcam-Z相机中呈现为单个光点，随后被直径约17英里的火卫一所遮挡。[1]这是人类首次从另一个行星的表面记录到地球被其他天体遮挡的事件。[1]
根据NASA科学家Mark Lemmon的描述，火卫一每天绕火星运行三次，地球在火星上空可见的时间长达数月，但要捕捉两者直接重叠的时刻需要精心规划和一定的运气。[1]该观测发生在火星当地太阳时间的晚上7点左右，火卫一在其距离火星约4850英里的轨道上运行。[1]
NASA's Perseverance rover has recorded a rare astronomical event from the surface of Mars: Earth vanishing behind Phobos, Mars's moon. On July 2 during the rover's 1,907th Martian day, the Mastcam-Z camera captured Earth as a single point of light being occulted by Phobos while the rover observed from a distance of approximately 195 million miles from Earth.[1] This marks the first time an occultation of Earth by another celestial body has been documented from the surface of another planet.[1]
The observation required precise timing and favorable conditions. Phobos, which measures roughly 17 miles in diameter and orbits Mars at a distance of approximately 4,850 miles, crossed in front of Earth as viewed from the rover's location at Jezero Crater.[1] According to Mark Lemmon, a researcher involved with the observation, "Phobos crosses the Martian sky three times a day, and Earth is visible for months at a stretch, but catching one directly behind the other takes planning and a little luck."[1] The event occurred at approximately 7 p.m. local Martian solar time, allowing the rover's instruments to successfully capture this rare alignment of two worlds from the Martian surface.[1]