![]() While one adds further evidence that the moons are not captured asteroids, the second sets out a detailed scenario that can explain how Mars ended up with two tiny moons. They both conclude that the third idea is correct. The Phobos monolith (Credit: Mars Global Surveyor/Nasa) However, a couple of studies published in 2016 might have solved the mystery. A massive impact should have given Mars a much larger satellite. But our Moon is large, and Phobos and Deimos are tiny. That leaves a third idea: Mars suffered a devastating impact with a large protoplanet long ago, which generated the two moons.Ī similar sort of collision is thought to be behind the creation of Earth’s Moon. However, precise astronomical measurements reveal that Phobos has a much lower density than typical Martian rock. But the moons orbit Mars in a way that is incompatible with this “snatched asteroid” idea.Īn alternative is that they formed from the same material that Mars did when the planet coalesced billions of years ago. It is not really clear how they got there.īoth are small and irregular in shape, which makes them look a little like asteroids that fell into Mars’s gravitational clutches long ago. ![]() Phobos is one of two tiny moons orbiting Mars, the other being Deimos. Mars has two tiny moons called Phobos and Deimos (Credit: Nasa/USGS) ![]()
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