NASA’s Perseverance rover captured images of Earth passing behind the Martian moon Phobos on July 2, 2026. The observation occurred on the 1,907th Martian day, or sol, of the mission using the rover’s Mastcam-Z camera system, according to NASA.
The primary composite uses seven frames to show Earth as a small bright dot moving from upper left to lower right before Phobos blocks it. Image processing removed extraneous background light to enhance detail, producing a black background around the celestial bodies.
A second annotated composite, designated Figure A, compiles nine images from the sequence. It highlights an outlined rectangle marking the specific patch of sky imaged during the event. In a larger inset displaying frames in time order from left to right, Phobos moves upward while Earth moves downward. An upper right inset assembled from five frames tracks the occultation path.
The camera recorded the Martian twilight roughly 40 minutes after sunset on that sol, displaying the sky’s approximate true color. The lower portion of the sky appears blue-gray where illumination is brighter, transitioning into reddish gray toward the top. A separate annotated release, Figure B, documents the Martian local solar time across the five images that recorded the occultation.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, managed by Caltech, manages Perseverance operations for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate. Arizona State University directs operations for the Mastcam-Z instrument, collaborating on camera design, fabrication, testing, and operations with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego.
