NASA's Curiosity rover has recorded some pretty stunning footage of a Martian moonrise. The red planet has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos, caught on camera just after sunset on June 28.
"You asked for the moon. Here it is! See footage from my Navcam of Mars' moon Phobos rising," NASA wrote on the Curiosity's official Twitter account.
The video was created from 86 still frames captured by the navigational camera on the Curiosity rover. Together, it clocks in at just 32 seconds, representing a timelapse of 27 minutes. This isn't just a pretty sight though, this sort of data is very valuable for scientists to be able to study the orbits of the two moons.
You can watch the timelapsed video below.
Scientists believe Mars's two moons are actually asteroids that got caught in the planet's gravitational ring. The two moons are tiny in comparison to the planet itself. Phobos is 14 miles wide on average, while Deimois is even smaller.
This is not the first time that the Curiosity rover has glimpsed the moons of Mars. Last fall, Curiosity spotted Phobos using its MastCam camera as it passed in front of the sun.
The rover is currently continuing its journey towards Mount Sharp after initially landing in the Gale Crater last august. The mission is expected to take around two years, culminating at the base of the 3.4 mile tall mountain.
Mount Sharp is believed to be a layered history of Mars' environmental history, and Curiosity's operators hope to learn much more about the planet's past as the rover explores the base.
The rover's destination lies about 5 miles away from its current location, and as soon as it finishes its current tasks, scientists hope to get it back on its way for its year-long trip.
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