Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Phobos: Doomed Moon of Mars

NASA ^ | November 22, 2015 | (see photo credit)

[SunkenCiv]

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 color image from the robotic Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, recorded at a resolution of about seven meters per pixel. But Phobos orbits so close to Mars - about 5,800 kilometers above the surface compared to 400,000 kilometers for our Moon - that gravitational tidal forces are dragging it down. A recent analysis of the long grooves indicates that they may result from global stretching caused by tides -- the differing force of Mars' gravity on different sides of Phobos. These grooves may then be an early phase in the disintegration of Phobos into a ring of debris around Mars.

[SunkenCiv]

[Credit: HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona), NASA]

[SunkenCiv]

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[SunkenCiv]

(btw, regarding the detail in The Big One -- Wow.)

The Big One

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[Texas Eagle]

Wow. That is a scary looking moon. Does that make me a Phobosphobe?

[SunkenCiv]

Since Phobos is doomed anyway, it should be considered fair game as a source of building materials (for Mars, Earth, and orbital structures) and perchance gases (for atmospheres and fueling), and maybe even precious metals.

Thanks .

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[cripplecreek]

I don’t buy the explanation for the grooves. We see similar grooves on plenty of other low gravity bodies in the solar system.

My theory is still low angle low speed impacts that roll along the surface.

[ETL]

[Jack Hydrazine]

Hoagland’s ideas on Phobos.
http://www.enterprisemission.com/Phobos.html
http://www.enterprisemission.com/Phobos2.html

[ETL]

I don't buy the explanation for the grooves. We see similar grooves on plenty of other low gravity bodies in the solar system. My theory is still low angle low speed impacts that roll along the surface.

Roll marks in what? The regolith? Does it even have such loose material on its surface?

[cripplecreek]

I suspect there is a lot of loose dust. Another possibility is lines of impacts from groups of small meteorites gravitationaly bound together.

A photo of the Vesta asteroid shows the same type of grooves.

[martin_fierro]

I’ve set a calendar reminder for 29 million years from now. Should be something to see!

http://www.i4u.com/2015/11/97263/nasa-phobos-mars-moon-might-disintegrate-30-50-million-years

[ETL]

I suspect there is a lot of loose dust.

I'm sure they know if there is or not. If I had the time now, I'd look into it. Makes sense that there would be, given all of the impacts. Our moon is covered in regolith as a result of countless impacts, mostly from billions of years ago.

[hattend]

May be, could be, perhaps.

Guess we won’t know until it happens.

[ChicagahAl]

"It's Aliens!"

Strip-mining by UFO's?

[PIF]

Since various space programs and their subsequent mass analysis of Phobos have determined there are large voids inside the moon, it cannot be natural - so plenty of time to explore the inside remains. Seems to be several large geometrical voids under all those right angle redundant surface striations.

Too bad the images posted are so washed out, hiding the noise reduced detail available in other images.

[ETL]

there are large voids inside the moon, it cannot be natural

I'm pretty sure there are valid explanations for a natural origin for these voids.

Gotta run now. I'll look into it later.

[Boonie]

That’s no “moon”...That’s an Irish Tater.....

[American in Israel]

In the third shot down you can see a stone sitting at the end of a groove as if it rolled to a stop. I do believe he is right.

[rawcatslyentist]

A much more plausible explination of the ridges.

Episode 2 Symbols of an Alien Sky: The Lightning Scarred Planet, Mars 1nr23min

[Forward the Light Brigade]

One Russian scientist speculated that The Martian Moons were sythetic—Made by the Martians and hollow where they escaped when they lost their atmosphere. They do not orbit right—and might well be some sort of space station.