NASA's Perseverance rover has spotted a potato-shaped moon passing in front of the Sun during a recent solar eclipse.

The event created a "googly eye" on Mars, with the pupil in the celestial gaze being the Martian moon Phobos and the iris being the Sun.

It was captured by the rover's Mastcam-Z on September 30 during the 1,285th Martian day of Perseverance's mission.

The moon passed directly between the Sun and a point on the surface of Mars, obscuring a large part of the Sun's disc.

As the Martian moon moved across the Sun, its shadow moved across the planet's surface.

The moon was named in 1877 by astronomer Asaph Hall after the god of fear and panic in Greek mythology, Phobos.

Understanding Phobos

This is not the first time a NASA rover has witnessed Phobos blocking the Sun's rays.

Phobos's transits, when one object crosses in front of another in space, happen on most days of the Martian year.

Perseverance captured several Phobos transits since landing at Mars's Jezero Crater in February 2021.

The rovers Curiosity and Opportunity have also captured the event.

Comparing the various images allows scientists to refine their understanding of the moon's orbit and how it is changing.

A transit of Phobos usually lasts around 30 seconds due to its quick orbit, taking roughly 7.6 hours to do a full loop around Mars.

Phobos is about 27 kilometres at its widest point, roughly 157 times smaller in diameter than Earth's Moon.

Perseverance rover

A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life.

The rover aims to pave the way for human exploration of Mars and characterise the planet's geology and past climate.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the moon.