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This is an archive article published on September 17, 2012

Curiosity captures amazing picture of Martian solar eclipse

Picture shows Phobos,one of the two moons orbiting the red planet,moving across the face of the sun.

A new picture taken from the surface of Mars by NASAs rover Curiosity shows the moon Phobos,one of the two moons orbiting the red planet,moving across the face of the sun.

The image captured a moment during a partial eclipse,with Phobos just jutting into Marss view of the sun,the Daily Mail reported.

Though Mars may be a little further away from the sun than Earth,it would still be damaging to look directly into its light.

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If Curiosity pointed its regular lens straight at the sun,it could have been destroyed.

So instead the rover used a neutral density filter,cutting down the suns intensity by a factor of 1,000,according to NBC News.

Curiosity has taken hundreds of images during the partial eclipse,and is set to take more during another eclipse involving Deimos,Marss other moon.

But most have not yet been send to Earth because of the limitations on the rovers ability to transmit data.

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