Mars’ Moon Is Falling Apart Mars’ largest moon, Phobos, is showing signs of being pulled apart

Mars’ Moon Is Falling Apart Mars’ largest moon, Phobos, is showing signs of being pulled apart by its host planet’s gravity. Phobos is a small, irregularly shaped object that is heavily cratered and may contain a reservoir of ice. Phobos orbits Mars closer than any other moon orbits its planet, and is being pulled in by Mars’ gravity two meters every 100 years. At this rate, Phobos is expected to be broken up in about 30 to 50 million years.Originally thought to be a result of a powerful impact, new modelling of Phobos’ surface suggests that the gravitational pull between the moon and Mars produces the shallow grooves that can be seen on the moon’s surface. This also relates to the composition of the moon. Phobos was originally thought to be a solid moon, but is now thought to be an interior of rubble held together by an outer layer of regolith.The findings were presented at the Division of Planetary Sciences meeting this week.Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of ArizonaParticipate in a Scientific Study!I’m working with science communicator Dr. Paige Brown Jarreau to survey science blog readers, and Christine the Astrophysicist readers are invited to participate! By participating, you will be helping me improve this blog and you will be contributing to publishable science on blog readership.See this post for more info or you can take the survey now! -- source link

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