Other chances to achieve a phase angle of under one will not occur until April and September 2020 (in the latter case, Mars Express may achieve a phase angle of precisely zero).Īs such, Mars Express takes every opportunity to view this small and intriguing moon from this angle, to shed light on its properties, behaviour, possible origin, orbital characteristics and location in space – and to probe its potential as a mission destination. This arrangement – of the Sun, Mars Express and Phobos where the latter is observed at a phase angle of near zero – is very rare, and happens only three times a year at most. The lowest phase angle in this animation is not precisely zero, but 0.92 degrees. In this alignment, all of the light illuminating Phobos hits the surface vertically and is thus largely reflected back into space, causing the target object to brighten up noticeably, as seen in the animation, and shadows to disappear. Different shadows are cast as the Sun’s position changes relative to the target object: this illuminates and highlights the surface features and enables calculations of feature height, depth and relief, and reveals much about the roughness, porosity and reflectivity of the surface material itself.Ī phase angle of zero degrees occurs when the Sun is directly behind the observer. Images acquired across a range of phase angles, as shown here, are incredibly useful for scientists. The slight up-and-down motion of the moon is caused by the slight oscillation of Mars Express, as the spacecraft has rotated from its normal position (pointing towards Mars) to this new one (pointing towards Phobos) in order to acquire these images. The image sequence shows Phobos at a number of angles – the moon can be seen rotating, and slowly lightens up before it begins to darken again. The origin of these features is uncertain: they may have been carved out by debris rolling across the moon’s surface, or created as the moon was pulled in different directions by tidal forces driven by its parent planet. The largest of these is Stickney crater, which can be seen towards the centre of the frame and measures 10 km across.Īlso visible are a number of linear marks and furrows that resemble long, deep grooves or scratches. A number of impact craters can be seen, created as the 26 km-long Phobos was hit by small bodies and rocky debris during its travels through space. The music disc is a drop after killing a Fear or The Ancient.This opportunity allowed the spacecraft to view myriad features across the moon’s surface. The soundtrack plays randomly, from the disc, and when Fears or The Ancient is near. Activation summons an Ancient from it's sleep, that rises from the center of the construct after all four "gates" light up with "portal" blocks. The activate a rebuilt structure, you need an ancient orb that can be randomly found at Mars dungeons. Special ores can be found deep underground that can be smelted, then crafted like stone bricks to rebuild also. More commonly, you can find destroyed and toppled pieces from the structure. With the Fear's special ability to have duplicates of itself, along with distortion that makes more copies appear, nausea to shake the screen more, and pitch darkness around you, it can create quite a challenge when they do spawn.Īncient Structures spawn rarely in mid-condition, and never in good condition. This makes the player see several copies of mobs and blocks that move back and forth between the real copy and are slightly more transparent. It has the special ability to duplicate and distort player's visions with a new de-buff, Distorted. The Fear causes blindness, nausea, and slowness on the player when a Fear gets near. It has evolved enough to not need to breathe Oxygen. The object is unrelated to another monolith located on the surface of Mars, which NASA noted as an example of a common surface feature in that region. The object appears in Mars Global Surveyor images SPS252603 and SPS255103, dated 1998. The Evolved Enderman has four arms, and causes blindness, and nausea on the player. Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin has spoken about the Phobos monolith and his support for a mission to Phobos. Phobos is made up of Phobos Dust, Phobos Turf, and Phobos Stone. Phobos Crater, Phobos Hills, Phobos Extreme Hills, and Phobos Giant Crater are biomes within a biome, such as Vanilla Hills and Extreme Hills. There is no real reason to go to Phobos besides for the new blocks, and to recreate an ancient structure. Resources - Phobos Dust Phobos Turf Phobos Stone Sidereal Rotation Period - 0.3189 Earth Days 7.65 Hoursīiomes - Phobos Crater Phobos Dust Plains Phobos Hills Phobos Extreme Hills Phobos Giant Crater Phobos Turf Plains Phobos Stone Plains
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