NASA rover films potato-shaped solar eclipse from the surface of Mars

A potato-shaped solar eclipse has been captured by NASA's Perseverance rover, providing data to planetary scientists looking to understand the gravitation relationship between Mars' moons and its interior.

Perseverance's Mastcam-z camera was used to capture the solar eclipse on April 2, which lasted for just over 40 seconds. The new footage breaks records for being the most zoomed-in, highest frame-rate observation of a Phobos solar eclipse, according to NASA. Furthermore, the new observation will add to the 18-year-old pile of Phobos solar eclipses that were first recorded by NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers.

With this data, researchers are able to learn more about how the moon's tidal force impacts the interior of Mars, crust, and mantle. Notably, Phobos is a doomed moon as it's expected to eventually crash into the surface of Mars in around 10+ million years. NASA writes on its website that observations such as the one recently acquired by Perseverance allow NASA scientists to understand better Phobos' "death spiral", which will lead to a more accurate prediction of its doomed timeline.

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