NASA has captured a stunning new photo of a “space potato” — but it is actually Phobos, the Martian moon that is locked on a slow collision course with the Red Planet.
The space agency recently imaged the lumpy, starchy-looking moon using the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on board NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been studying the Red Planet since arriving in its orbit in 2006.
Phobos, named after the Greek god of fear, is roughly 157 times smaller than Earth’s moon and is one of Mars’ two natural satellites, alongside the even smaller Deimos, whose name comes from the Greek god of dread.
Scientists believe that the brother moons were once roaming rocks and were snared into Mars’ orbit by the planet’s gravitational field. A recent image analysis of Phobos’ craggy yet highly reflective surface suggested the moon was once a comet and came from the asteroid belt located between the Red Planet and Jupiter.
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The two moons’ orbits are unstable, and scientists predict that in tens of millions of years Deimos will spin out into space while Phobos will either break up into a ring or slam into the Martian surface.
However, with Phobos drifting only 6 feet (1.8 meters) closer to Mars every year, our solar system’s space potato is unlikely to be mashed for another 50 million years, according to NASA.
That leaves us with plenty of time to study and admire the starchy celestial body, whose characteristic features include streaks of white ice and the Stickney Crater — a 6-mile (10 kilometers) indent named after Chloe Angeline Stickney Hall, the mathematician and wife of the two moons’ discoverer Asaph Hall, who first oberved them in 1877.
Dr. Thomas Hughes is a UK-based scientist and science communicator who makes complex topics accessible to readers. His articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to cutting-edge research.
