Phobos: A Doomed Moon | Space Wallpaper

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Phobos: A Doomed Moon
One of Mars' moons travels a path of doom, being stretched and pulled by Mars' gravity on its way to becoming a ring around the red planet. (Image credit: HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona), NASA)

Astronomy is filled with references to Roman and Greek mythology and Mars is no different. The Red Planet, named for the Roman god of war, has two small moons named Phobos (Fear) and Deimos (Panic). Experts believe the two objects to be captured asteroids. The larger of the two — Phobos — orbits extremely close to Mars, a mere 5,800 kilometers (compare to Earth's Moon at 400,000 kilometers) above the surface. The grooves in the moon may indicate the gravitational draw from Mars, showing the first signs of Phobos' disintegration into a ring around Mars. [Learn more about Phobos.]

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Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.