Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2012 October 28
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Phobos: Doomed Moon of Mars
Image Credit: HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona), NASA

Explanation: This moon is doomed. Mars, the red planet named for the Roman god of war, has two tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos, whose names are derived from the Greek for Fear and Panic. These martian moons may well be captured asteroids originating in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter or perhaps from even more distant reaches of the Solar System. The larger moon, Phobos, is indeed seen to be a cratered, asteroid-like object in this stunning colour image from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, recorded at a resolution of about seven metres per pixel. But Phobos orbits so close to Mars - about 5,800 kilometres above the surface compared to 400,000 kilometres for our Moon - that gravitational tidal forces are dragging it down. In 100 million years or so Phobos will likely be shattered by stress caused by the relentless tidal forces, the debris forming a decaying ring around Mars.

Tomorrow's picture: red spider


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