|
THE MOONS OF MARS
|
As mentioned above Mars got two moons called
Phobos and Demos which were discovered by Asap Hall an American
astronomer (1829-1907) in 1877.
Both moons are small. Phobos is 13.8 miles
(22.2 km) and Demos is 7.8 miles (12.6 km) across They are heavily
cratered and are composed of iron and rock. They have no
atmosphere and possibly have former asteroids which Mars'
gravitational field had captured them.
|
PHOBOS
Phobos (meaning "fear") is the larger of the two tiny moons of Mars. It is
only 13.8 miles (22.2 km) across and has a mass of 1.08 x 10
16 . It orbits Mars at a mean distance of 5,600 miles (9,000
km).
Its major
feature is a large crater, named Stickney (Hall's wife's
maiden name), which is 6.2 miles (10 km) wide. Phobos was discovered by astronomer Asaph Hall in 1877.
|
|
DEIMOS
Deimos (meaning "terror") is the smaller of the two tiny moons of Mars. Deimos is only 7.8 miles (12.6 km) across and has a mass of 1.80 x 10 15 . It orbits at a mean distance of 14,300 miles (23,000 km) from Mars. It was discovered by A. Hall in 1877.
|
|
