Look at the cosmic meeting of the moons of Mars and Jupiter

The random alignment of Deimos, which passes in front of Jupiter on February 14, 2022, has allowed scientists to more accurately

determine the position and orbit of the moon of Mars. That is, by measuring the duration of an eclipse—when light from one celestial body is blocked by another—the orbit can be calculated.

This alignment is very unusual, because Deimos must be exactly in the plane of the orbit of Jupiter's moons for the alignment itself to take place.

Animated sequence of 80Images from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) show the rough surface of the small, irregular moon, 15 km in diameter, as it passes in front of Jupiter. The gas giant's moons appear as small white specks due to the fact that they are located at a distance of almost 750 million km from Mars Express. This is a staggering distance five times greater than that between the Earth and the Sun.

First, the animation shows Deimos passingin front of the icy moon, Europa. Then the largest moon of the solar system, Ganymede, disappears from view. Then the gas giant Jupiter, which appeared as a large white spot in the center, disappears behind Deimos.

Deimos then covers the extremely active volcanic moon Io, which is similar in size to Earth's moon. Finally, the cratered moon Callisto disappears behind Deimos.

Deimos appears to be moving up and down inanimations due to the small bobbing movements of the Mars Express. At this point, it rotates to position the HRSC camera in the desired position. The movement of the radar's two long antennas also contributes to slight vibrations.

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