Curiosity Rover Sees Solar Eclipes on Mars

SchrodingerZ writes: "Though solar eclipses are fairly common on Earth (though much more in the southern hemisphere), yesterday the Mars Curiosity Rover caught sight of a partial solar eclipse in Gale Crater on the Red planet. The martian moon Phobos took a small bite out of the sun on the 37th day (Sol 37) of the rover's martian mission. The Curiosity Rover was able to take a picture of the rare event through a 'neutral density filter that reduced the sunlight to a thousandth of its natural intensity.' This protected the camera from the intense light rays seen during eclipse or looking directly at the sun. It is possible a short movie of the event could be compiled from the data in the near future. More solar transits of Mar's moon (including the second moon Deimos) are predicted to happen in the days to come."