Tag Archives: Deimos

Did a giant impact create the northern lowlands, both moons, and enrich the mantle?

Posted on July 19, 2017 by rburnham

The origin and nature of Mars are mysterious. The planet has geologically distinct hemispheres with smooth lowlands in the north and cratered, high-elevation terrain in the south. The red planet also has two small oddly-shaped oblong moons and a composition that sets … Continue reading →

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Curiosity update: A roving astronomer

Posted on June 24, 2017 by rburnham

Sol 1736-39, June 23, 2017, update by MSL scientists Michael Battalio and Mark Salvatore: Curiosity has presented us with another beautiful workspace following a 16.6 meter drive.  The majority of this week’s activities were focused on imaging Vera Rubin Ridge to … Continue reading →

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Curiosity update: Marching ahead towards Vera Rubin Ridge

Posted on June 20, 2017 by rburnham

Sol 1732-33, June 19, 2017, update by MSL scientist Mark Salvatore: As this is my first time contributing to the MSL blog, I’d like to quickly introduce myself to you all. I’m Mark, an MSL Participating Scientist and a faculty … Continue reading →

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Mars rings: Not now, but maybe someday

Posted on March 20, 2017 by rburnham

As children, we learned about our solar system’s planets by certain characteristics — Jupiter is the largest, Saturn has rings, Mercury is closest to the sun. Mars is red, but it’s possible that one of our closest neighbors also had … Continue reading →

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Giant impact made Mars moons Phobos, Deimos

Posted on July 5, 2016 by rburnham

Where did the two natural satellites of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, come from? For a long time, their shape suggested that they were asteroids captured by Mars. However, the shape and course of their orbits contradict this hypothesis. Two independent … Continue reading →

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Curiosity images planets, asteroids, Mars moons

Posted on April 25, 2014 by rburnham

A new image from NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is the first ever from the surface of Mars to show an asteroid, and it shows two: Ceres and Vesta. These two — the largest and third-largest bodies in the asteroid belt … Continue reading →

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Hurtling moon casts no cooling shadow

Posted on November 26, 2012 by rburnham

Total solar eclipses on Earth take hours to unfold, even if totality — the brief time when all the Sun is covered — lasts just a few minutes. Almost everyone who stands in the path of a solar eclipse notes … Continue reading →

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Where did Phobos and Deimos form?

Posted on October 29, 2012 by rburnham

For a long time, scientists thought the Martian moons, Deimos and Phobos, were captured asteroids. Now, however, many are examining the idea that the moons formed in orbit around Mars, accreting from debris in the aftermath of a big impact. … Continue reading →

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Chips off the old block?

Posted on May 16, 2011 by rburnham

Are Martian moons Phobos and Deimos escaped asteroids, as sometimes proposed? Robert Craddock (National Air and Space Museum) suggests in a paper in the February 2011 issue of Icarus they may have come from a large impact on Mars instead. … Continue reading →

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