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Deimos: UAE Spacecraft captures rare detailed photo of Mars' moon

Mars and DeimosImage source, PA Media

Scientists have released the most detailed pictures ever taken of Mars' moon, Deimos.

The images were snapped by the UAE Space Agency's Hope Probe during recent flybys of the moon.

The spacecraft flew around 60 miles from Deimos, during which it was able to record the images and send them back to Earth.

It also captured pictures which show a rare glimpse into the far side of the moon, which have not previously been closely investigated.

What's has the UAE Space Agency's Hope Probe discovered?

Image source, Getty Images

The probe named 'Al-Amal' - Arabic for 'Hope' - is part of the UAE Space Agency's Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) and is the world's first interplanetary mission launched by an Arab country.

It has been orbiting Mars for the past two years regularly flying past Deimos and its big sibling moon Phobos.

It used instruments that measure infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths in order to make its observations and to capture the images.

Mars has two moons - Phobos which is the larger one and Deimos, the smaller.

Did you know?

A year on Mars lasts 687 days - that's around twice as long as a year on Earth!

What are Mars' moons, Phobos and Deimos, like?

According to the EMM, Deimos is a rocky bean-shaped object that is only 12 kilometres wide.

Mars' other moon, Phobos, is almost double that size and is the better understood of the two moons, as it orbits much closer to Mars.

Scientists hope that the Hope probe will help us learn more about Deimos and better understand its composition and origins.

The UAE Space Agency announced that it was extending its Mars mission for another year, during which Hope will continue to fly past Deimos and collect more data.

Hope has so far made a number of close flybys of Deimos, while also observing Mars and its atmosphere.