NASA’s Perseverance rover has successfully documented a celestial event on Mars, capturing Earth as it passed behind the Martian moon Phobos. The observation occurred on July 2, 2026, marking the 1,907th sol of the mission.
The images were acquired using the rover's Mastcam-Z instrument during twilight, approximately 40 minutes after sunset. The resulting footage shows Earth appearing as a small, bright point of light traversing the sky. To highlight the movement of the two bodies, mission teams processed the imagery to remove background light, revealing the Martian sky in its natural blue-gray and reddish-gray twilight hues.
The Mastcam-Z instrument is operated by Arizona State University in partnership with Malin Space Science Systems. The Perseverance mission itself is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech, under the agency's Science Mission Directorate.
Source: NASA
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