Astronomy Picture of the Day

NASA ^ | 4/14/08 | HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona), NASA

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Phobos: Doomed Moon of Mars
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 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.

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NASA sometimes posts a 3 - D picture for the APOD, so they maintain a list of vendors (government approved? :) ) for the glasses.

3 - D glasses

It's on my profile if anyone needs it, with the third apod image link.

[AFPhys]

Glad you liked it!

[AFPhys]

With the 3D, you can really see that the craters and bulges on Phobos are very substantial features, quite unlike “dimples on a golf ball” features of the Moon -— more like features on one of those very lumpy gourds, or a head, or an ocean sponge.