By Aahil
October 23, 2022
Deimos, a moon of Mars, was seen by the Mars Express spacecraft when it passed Jupiter and its moons.
The Mars Express probe, operated by the European Space Agency, is located near Mars but far from Jupiter.
The animation has a Pac-Man-like appearance as Deimos glides across the screen, obstructing Jupiter and the tiny dots of distant moons.
The spacecraft is on a journey to Mars to research the atmosphere and climate of the planet and look for evidence of water.
According to ESA, the reason Deimos appears to be moving up and down in the animation is because Mars Express is swaying slightly as it turns to position the HRSC camera.
Although Jupiter has many moons, those are the four biggest. Deimos and Phobos are the only moons that Mars possesses in comparison.
The larger moon Phobos passed in front of Deimos in a shorter sequence shot in March, which the ESA used to follow up the Jupiter film.
The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) project is being developed by Japan's space agency JAXA, and the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) mission is being led by the European Space Agency.
Additionally, NASA is preparing its Europa Clipper spacecraft to explore the ice moon as a potential home for life.
The largest photos ever taken of Jupiter's jumbo-sized moon Ganymede and icy moon Europa from Earth.