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NASA's Hubble Sees Martian Moon Orbiting the Red Planet
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Space / 2017-07-20

NASA's Hubble Sees Martian Moon Orbiting the Red Planet

NASA's Hubble Sees Martian Moon Orbiting the Red Planet

NASA's image library records NASA's Hubble Sees Martian Moon Orbiting the Red Planet.

The sharp eye of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured the tiny moon Phobos during its orbital trek around Mars. Because the moon is so small, it appears star-like in the Hubble pictures. Over the course of 22 minutes, Hubble took 13 separate exposures, allowing astronomers to create a time-lapse video showing the diminutive moon's orbital pat

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The sharp eye of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured the tiny moon Phobos during its orbital trek around Mars. Because the moon is so small, it appears star-like in the Hubble pictures. Over the course of 22 minutes, Hubble took 13 separate exposures, allowing astronomers to create a time-lapse video showing the diminutive moon's orbital path. The Hubble observations were intended to photograph Mars, and the moon's cameo appearance was a bonus. A football-shaped object just 16.5 miles by 13.5 miles by 11 miles, Phobos is one of the smallest moons in the solar system. It is so tiny that it would fit comfortably inside the Washington, D.C. Beltway. The little moon completes an orbit in just 7 hours and 39 minutes, which is faster than Mars rotates. Rising in the Martian west, it runs

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NASA Image and Video LibraryNASA's Hubble Sees Martian Moon Orbiting the Red Planet

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