grooves.
Posted on 11/10/2015 4:49:46 PM PST by BenLurkin
One of the most striking features we see on images of Phobos is the parallel sets of grooves on the moon’s surface. They were originally thought to be fractures caused by an impact long ago. But scientists now say the grooves are early signs of the structural failure that will ultimately destroy this moon.
"We think that Phobos has already started to fail, and the first sign of this failure is the production of these grooves," said Terry Hurford, from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
...
Mars' gravity is pulling in Phobos closer by about 2 meters (6.6 feet) every hundred years. The orbit will get lower and lower until it reaches a level known as the Roche Limit. This is the point where the tidal forces between the two sides of the moon are so different that it gets torn apart.
Hurford and his colleagues, who presented their latest findings at the annual Meeting of the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society this week, also delivered other bad news about the interior of Phobos – which could ultimately speed up the demise of the moon. Phobos' insides are likely to be just a big pile of rubble - barely holding together - surrounded by a layer of powdery regolith about 100 meters (330 feet) thick.
...
Phobos' grooves....new modeling by Hurford and his team supports the idea that the grooves are more like "stretch marks" that occur when Phobos gets deformed by tidal forces.
(Excerpt) Read more at universetoday.com ...
Good ole jack shelia.
You know her head really is that pointy.
grooves.
Don’t tell D.
That’s not Phobos! Pheobe’s faux Phobos phobia!
Don’t want him worrying about his brother, you betcha.
Maybe Sheila is from France.
Worst. Movie. Ever!
“Worst. Movie. Ever!”
Aw, it wasn’t that bad. Better special effects would have helped. The leading lady was beautiful.
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