This April 8 there was a total solar eclipse, an astronomical event that captured the attention of millions of people in North America. This eclipse was visible mainly in a strip that crossed from southwest to northeast through the United States, Canada and Mexico, in the latter country, NASA broadcast the celestial phenomenon live from the port of MazatlánSinaloa, where experts surveyed children.
One of the children interested in learning more about science and astronomy, particularly eclipses, asked if it is possible to see eclipses on other planets, and if so what they are like. In response, Gerónimo Villanueva, a planetary scientist at NASA Goddard, pointed out that of course on other planets in our solar system, eclipses are possible.
To better understand how they occur on planets other than Earth, he took Mars as an example:
“Eclipses are a phenomenon that actually happens everywhere in our solar system during the alignment of celestial bodies,” he said.
“In the case of Mars, it is farther from the Sun, it is smaller. Mars has a much smaller moon called Phobos, it travels quickly around Mars. In the case of its ring, it is huge because Phobos does not cover the entire Sunbut in a way it is an eclipse and they not only happen on Mars, they also occur on Jupiter, on Saturn, which have many moons and also leave behind spots.”
In that same context, Noelia González, NASA science communicator in Spanish, pointed out that when humans can go to Mars, they will witness these celestial and astronomical phenomena that are not particular to our planet, but rather extend around the system. solar in which we live.
“When humanity goes to Mars, we will also be able to enjoy solar eclipses,” Noelia mentioned.
Terrestrial eclipses help understand the phenomenon outside the planet
For his part, Gerónimo added that these phenomena, in addition to being beautiful, represent an opportunity to help understand how to predict eclipses throughout the planet and how everything moves with great precision.
“They are elements that are very precise in time, when it comes to understanding how celestial bodies move, they help us correct our models,” adds the scientist.
The NASA collaborator stressed the importance of space agencies studying eclipses, whether total or partial, given that this helps refine existing models with which its occurrence is established.
If you ever wondered if eclipses were exclusive to Earth, we now know that this is not the case and that they occur in a similar way on other planets.
#humans #Mars #enjoy #eclipses #NASA #experts
