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What shape is Phobos and Deimos?
The two moons of Mars are Phobos and Deimos. They are irregular in shape. Both were discovered by American astronomer Asaph Hall in August 1877 and are named after the Greek mythological twin characters Phobos (fear) and Deimos (terror and dread) who accompanied their father Ares into battle.
What does the moon Deimos look like?
With their elongated shapes, they even look more like asteroids than moons. Even from Mars, the moons don’t look like moons. The more distant moon, Deimos, appears more like a star in the night sky. When it is full and shining at its brightest, it resembles Venus as seen on Earth.
Are Deimos spherical?
Like most bodies of its size, Deimos is highly non-spherical with triaxial dimensions of 15 × 12.2 × 11 km, making it 56% of the size of Phobos. It is cratered, but the surface is noticeably smoother than that of Phobos, caused by the partial filling of craters with regolith.
Why is Deimos not round?
Deimos is 56% smaller than its brother Phobos, making it the smaller of the two moons. Unlike Earth’s moon, which is round, Deimos is shaped like a lumpy potato. The moon does not have any atmosphere due to it being so little and no gravity too low maintain one.
What is Phobos and Deimos mean?
Phobos and Deimos (moons of Mars) Mars has two small moons: Phobos and Deimos. Phobos (fear) and Deimos (panic) were named after the horses that pulled the chariot of the Greek war god Ares, the counterpart to the Roman war god Mars. Both Phobos and Deimos were discovered in 1877 by American astronomer Asaph Hall.
How wide is Deimos?
7.705 mi
Deimos/Diameter
Is Deimos a terrestrial planet?
Mars is the only terrestrial planet to host multiple moons. The smaller of the two, the lumpy moon Deimos, bears more resemblance to an asteroid than to most of the moons in the solar system, a similarity that raises questions about its formation.
What is the diameter of Deimos?
Is Phobos or Deimos bigger?
Phobos is a bit larger than Deimos, and orbits only 3,700 miles (6,000 kilometers) above the Martian surface. No known moon orbits closer to its planet. It whips around Mars three times a day, while the more distant Deimos takes 30 hours for each orbit.