Is it an eclipse? An oddly angled crescent moon, maybe? Nope. This gorgeous silver arc is definitely Mars.
The breathtaking new picture of the Crimson Planet was captured by the NASA spacecraft Psyche because it heads for an in depth encounter with Earth’s planetary neighbor on Friday (Could 15).
NASA shared the picture captured late on Wednesday (Could 13) on its NASA Solar System X feed. The house company wrote: “This isn’t an eclipse, however an much more uncommon sight: a crescent Mars as seen by NASA’s #MissionToPsyche spacecraft. The unprocessed picture — taken by Psyche at the moment — exhibits the evening aspect of Mars because the spacecraft approaches the Crimson Planet for a flyby on Could 15.”
NASA defined the glowing crescent is definitely daylight being mirrored from the day aspect of the Martian floor, with a contribution from daylight passing by means of the environment of Mars. The house company continued: “The irregularities within the crescent are doubtless brought on by floor options, and mud and clouds within the environment.”
This isn’t an eclipse, however an much more uncommon sight: a crescent Mars as seen by NASA’s #MissionToPsyche spacecraft.The unprocessed picture — taken by Psyche at the moment — exhibits the evening aspect of Mars because the spacecraft approaches the Crimson Planet for a flyby on Could 15. The glowing… pic.twitter.com/MMxQfcXl5ZMay 13, 2026
As House.com beforehand reported on Friday (Could 15), Psyche will come inside round 2,800 miles (4,500 kilometers) of Mars travelling at a pace of 12,333 miles per hour (19,848 kph).
This may permit it to seize some gorgeous pictures of Mars and, within the course of, calibrate the spacecraft’s observational devices, work which started on Could 3. This may confirm that Psyche might be prepared to gather very important information when it reaches the principle asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, residence of its main goal a metal-rich 173-mile-wide (280 km) asteroid known as asteroid 16 Psyche, (or simply Psyche).
This is not only a sightseeing tour, howver. The principle goal of Psyche’s Mars flyby might be to seize a gravity help from the Crimson Planet.
This may enhance the spacecraft’s pace and alter its trajectory enabling the mission which launched in October 2023 to achieve its asteroid namesake in 2029.
