More *incredible* Phobos imagery
15 years ago

More *incredible* Phobos imagery

Slate  

I’ve already posted some beautiful closeups of Phobos, a moon of Mars, taken by the Mars Express space probe, after the European Space Agency aimed the spacecraft at the tiny moon. The grooves were once thought to be ripples from a big impact that created the whopping crater Stickney, but are now thought to be from boulders rolling around in the low gravity of the moon, perhaps ejected rocks from various impacts landing back down in the feeble gravity. Note the one winding path going from the upper left to lower right: that looks very much like a boulder bounced its way across the surface! The curvy path is an indication of the changing gravity field of Phobos: it’s not a smooth sphere, but a lumpy potato, so the surface gravity – what you’d think of as “down” if you were standing there – changes greatly depending on position.

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History of this topic

Moons of Mars could be broken remains of something big
4 months ago

Moons of Mars could be broken remains of something big

India Today  

Mars, the Red Planet, is home to two intriguing moons, Phobos and Deimos. Unlike Earth's Moon, whose origin is fairly well understood as the result of a collision with a Mars-sized protoplanet called Theia, the origins of Mars's moons remain a mystery. Mars's gravitational pull is relatively weak compared to Earth or Venus, making it unlikely for Mars to capture …

Mars moons Phobos and Deimos could be debris from a shredded asteroid, suggests study
4 months, 1 week ago

Mars moons Phobos and Deimos could be debris from a shredded asteroid, suggests study

India TV News  

As per the recent study, Mars’ moons, may have originated from debris left behind after an asteroid was torn apart by the planet’s gravity. He theorizes that an asteroid was initially captured by Mars’ gravity but was later shredded into a debris ring, which eventually coalesced into the two moons. Upcoming mission may solve the mystery The Japan Aerospace Exploration …

The longstanding mystery of Mars’ moons – and the mission that could solve it
1 year, 3 months ago

The longstanding mystery of Mars’ moons – and the mission that could solve it

The Hindu  

The two small moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, have been puzzling scientists for decades, with their origin remaining a matter of debate. Giveaways If an impact origin did indeed occur, we would expect to find similar material on Phobos to that which is found on Mars. If Phobos formed in the same or at least similar location in the …

NASA’s Perseverance rover watches eclipse of Mars’ doomed ‘potato’ moon
2 years, 11 months ago

NASA’s Perseverance rover watches eclipse of Mars’ doomed ‘potato’ moon

CNN  

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. And although it looks like the rover was watching the shadow of a potato cross the red Martian surface, that’s actually Phobos, one of Mars’ two little moons. “You can see details in the shape of Phobos’ shadow, like ridges and bumps on the moon’s landscape,” said Mark Lemmon, a planetary astronomer …

Phobos and Deimos are the remnants of a much larger Martian moon
4 years, 1 month ago

Phobos and Deimos are the remnants of a much larger Martian moon

Daily Mail  

The moons of Mars — Phobos and Deimos — are two fragments of what was once a much larger Martian satellite that was blown apart by a huge collision, a study finds. Scroll down for video Mars' pair of moons — Phobos and Deimos — are two fragments of what was once a much larger Martian moon which was blown …

ISRO's Orbiter Mission captures image of Mars' biggest moon
4 years, 8 months ago

ISRO's Orbiter Mission captures image of Mars' biggest moon

India Today  

The Mars Colour Camera onboard ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission has captured the image of Phobos, the closest and biggest moon of Mars. A recent image of the mysterious moon of Mars, Phobos, as captured by India's Mars Orbiter Mission For more details visit https://t.co/oFMxLxdign@MarsOrbiter #ISRO pic.twitter.com/5IJuSDBggx— ISRO July 3, 2020 "Stickney, the largest crater on Phobos along with the other …

Mars' moon Phobos got its strange signature grooves from rolling stones: Study
6 years, 4 months ago

Mars' moon Phobos got its strange signature grooves from rolling stones: Study

Firstpost  

Some of these globe-trotting stones rolled all the way around & back to their source — a big crater. The strange grooves criss-crossing the surface of the Martian moon Phobos were made by rolling boulders blasted free from an ancient asteroid impact, suggests a new study. While some scientists posited that large impacts on Mars have showered the nearby moon …

Mystery behind Mars moon Phobos' signature grooves decoded
6 years, 4 months ago

Mystery behind Mars moon Phobos' signature grooves decoded

India Today  

Strange grooves that crisscross the surface of the Martian moon Phobos were likely made by rolling boulders blasted free from an ancient asteroid impact, a study has found. While some scientists posited that large impacts on Mars have showered the nearby moon with groove-carving debris, others suggested that Mars' gravity is slowly tearing Phobos apart, and the grooves are signs …

Nasa reveals infrared look at Mars's Phobos moon
7 years, 5 months ago

Nasa reveals infrared look at Mars's Phobos moon

Daily Mail  

NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter has captured its first images of the ‘Death Star’ moon Phobos – a region that could one day host a human-mission outpost. Using the Thermal Emission Imaging System camera, the orbiter has gathered new information on the changing surface temperatures of the Martian moon over the course of a day, revealing how quickly the ground warms …

NASA scientists closer to solving mystery surrounding origin of Mars moon Phobos
9 years, 1 month ago

NASA scientists closer to solving mystery surrounding origin of Mars moon Phobos

Firstpost  

NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission made a series of close approaches to Phobos, collecting data from within 500 kms of the moon. Washington: NASA scientists are closer to solving the mystery of how Mars’ moon Phobos was formed. In late November and early December 2015, NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission made a series of close approaches …

Mars is destroying its moon Phobos as surface hints gravity is tearing it apart
9 years, 4 months ago

Mars is destroying its moon Phobos as surface hints gravity is tearing it apart

Daily Mail  

Phobos will be torn apart by Mars' gravitational pull in millions of years Now they believe they're the first signs of the moon being under stress They thought they were left over from a massive impact Grooves on the surface of Mars’ largest moon suggest it is being destroyed by its parent planet. While scientists have long suggested it is …

Mangalyaan sends pictures of Mars moon Phobos
10 years, 5 months ago

Mangalyaan sends pictures of Mars moon Phobos

The Hindu  

Almost 20 days after it successfully entered the orbit of the Red Planet, ISRO’s Mars Orbiter on Tuesday sent pictures of Phobos — the largest of the two natural satellites that orbit around Mars. ISRO, the national space agency, has shared a tiny footage on its social networking site with a caption, “The larger of the two Martian moons, Phobos, …

Phobos, closeup of fear
15 years ago

Phobos, closeup of fear

Slate  

As I promised a little while back, the European Space Agency has released new extremely high-res pictures of Phobos, one of the moons of Mars! This image, taken by the Mars Express spacecraft, has a resolution of 4.4 meters per pixel, meaning objects about the size of a two-car garage can be seen on the surface of Phobos. For comparison, …

Phobos up close and very personal
16 years, 11 months ago

Phobos up close and very personal

Slate  

Mars has two dinky moons, Phobos and Deimos. That’s the creepily good HiRISE camera from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, of course, that took the image. Click it to embiggen and get much higher-res versions: the raw data has a resolution of 7 meters per pixel. There have been more detailed images taken in the past, but these collected more light …

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