Space photography EVENT DATE · 12 August 2026 3 MIN READ

Perseverance frames Phobos crossing the Sun in a new Mastcam-Z sequence

NASA's Perseverance rover recorded Phobos transiting the Sun on August 12. The frames are visually dramatic, but they also contribute to the long record used to refine the Martian moon's orbit.

MANAZYR NEWSROOMHuman-reviewed original briefing

Published 26 August 2026
Updated 26 August 2026

The irregular black silhouette of Mars's moon Phobos crossing the orange disc of the Sun, photographed by Perseverance — Phobos crosses the Sun as seen by Perseverance's Mastcam-Z on August 12, 2026; NASA says the sequence was tinted to simulate a protected human view. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS/SSI. Source: NASA Photojournal / Wikimedia Commons.

What happened

Perseverance captured the transit on August 12, 2026, during mission sol 1,948, using the rover's Mastcam-Z camera system. NASA published the sequence on August 24 as PIA26811. Phobos appears as an irregular silhouette moving across the solar disc, seen from Jezero Crater.

NASA says the animation was tinted to approximate what a person would see through protective solar-eclipse glasses. Repeated eclipse observations from the Martian surface help researchers refine Phobos's orbit and study how it changes over time.

Why it matters

The image works on two levels: it is a precise observation with a traceable instrument and mission record, and it is an unusually legible photograph of orbital motion. The processing note matters because the published colour is a presentational choice, not a claim of untouched human vision.

What we're watching

We are watching the next Perseverance and Curiosity eclipse sequences and the orbital models built from the combined record. This single image does not by itself measure the full rate of Phobos's inward migration.

PRIMARY / ORIGINAL

Source trail

Original material used for this MANAZYR report.