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Deimos passing in front of Jupiter and its Galilean moons
- Video Online only
- Title Deimos passing in front of Jupiter and its Galilean moons
- Released: 13/10/2022
- Length 00:00:20
- Language English
- Footage Type Close-up
- Copyright ESA/DLR/FU Berlin – CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO, K.-D. Matz
- Description
This sequence is made up of a series of 80 images taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera onboard Mars Express on 14 February 2022. The images were taken with the Super Resolution Channel lens on HRSC, to obtain the most detailed images possible.
In the foreground, the images show the irregular shaped martian moon Deimos, with its rocky and cratered surface.
In the background Jupiter and the four Galilean satellites are seen. Jupiter is the large bright white spot near the centre of the video. The moons appear as small white specks of light.
The separation between Mars Express and Jupiter is about 745 million km. Due to the difference in brightness compared to Deimos, the moons would not have been visible on the images next to the extremely bright Jupiter if these images had not been contrast enhanced separately and locally at the positions of the moons.
First, Deimos passes in front of Jupiter’s moons Europa and Ganymede (left), followed by Jupiter (large white circle), and Io and Callisto (right). The slight movement of Deimos in the sequence of images is caused by the small vibrations after the spacecraft manoeuvres into position.