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

NASA ^ | October 28, 2012 | (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 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. 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.

[BenLurkin]

[bigheadfred]

I knows spuds.

[BenLurkin]

Animation illustrating the hypothesis of asteroid-belt origin for the moons.

[count-your-change]

And then this little known fact: It became hobosphobos or fear of bums and homohobophobos or fear of gay bums and then it became photohomohobophobos or fear of pictures of gay bums. And then protophotohomohobophobos which I can’t explain since I’m 0ut 0f “O’s”.

[James C. Bennett]

What movie is that screenshot from?

[bigheadfred]

That is the original Battlestar Galactica.

[Talisker]

The gleaming titanium shell of the abandoned interstellar generation ship is showing through the eons of space dust.

Don't be absurd - it's a battle-damaged impulse-drive frigate.

[Talisker]

Has anyone ever explained how the descriptions of the two moons of Mars got into the book Gullivers Travels, years and years before they were ‘dicovered’ by astronomers?

You think Gulliver's Travels is a book?

[bigheadfred]

You forgot protophotohomoobamahobophobos which me picturing that fag bum obama banished in exile to some moon flying around Mars.

[onyx]

I’m always fascinated by the beautiful photos and the information provided.
Thank you very much, SunkenCiv.

[GeronL]

That was very confusing. lol.

[BenLurkin]

http://www.megomuseum.com/reboot/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/battlestar_galactica_classic.jpg

[bigheadfred]

Just picture that fag bum obama banished in exile to some moon flying around Mars and ALL WILL BE WELL.

[count-your-change]

After ‘protophoto........’ you expect me to remember even more? You’re brutal, brutal!

[Verginius Rufus]

The two moons were discovered by one astronomer, an American--Asaph Hall--in 1877, in Washington, D.C., in what was later Dick Cheney's house.

How the author of "Gulliver's Travels" knew about the moons, I don't know, but he was pretty swift.

[bigheadfred]

LOL

[MaxMax]

That is one cool rock. It would look great in my collection.

I keep one just like it under my bed. The altitude is rough in the mornings though.

[mrsmith]

Second in desirability only to our moon as a settlement for pioneers. Doubt there’s any water there though after capture and/or tidal energy input.
Light enough that it may be used for travel in the future.

(He’s crazy I tell you! Crazy!)

[Lees Swrd]

Is that a peanut in the end of that thing then I know what it is lmao.....

[bigheadfred]

Maybe you need to stop smoking. And yeah, you will lose that debate. teehee