Curiosity Views Earth Setting, Phobos Rising

Figure A


Figure B

Click on images for larger versions

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, to capture this view of Earth setting while Phobos, one of Mars' two moons, is rising. It's the first time an image of the two celestial bodies have been captured together from the surface of Mars.

The image is a composite of five short exposures and 12 long exposures all taken on Sept. 5, 2024, the 4,295th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's mission. An inset in the image shows Phobos on the left and Earth on the right. From the rover's perspective, the inset area would be about half the width of a thumb held at arm's length.

The image shows the sky over Texoli, a butte on lower Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain that Curiosity has been ascending since 2014.

Figure A shows the Mastcam image without the inset.

Figure B is just the inset.

Curiosity was built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California. JPL leads the mission on behalf of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego built and operates Mastcam.

For more about Curiosity, visit: science.nasa.gov/mission/msl-curiosity.