The Sciences

Mars Moons Could Once Have Been Comets, Say Astronomers

Astronomers have long puzzled over the origins on Phobos and Demos, the red planet's strangely-shaped moons. Now they are pondering an entirely new explanation.

Mars-and-phobos
(Credit: olivier.laurent.photos/Shutterstock)

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Phobos and Deimos are potato-shaped, heavily pock-marked rocks that are gravitationally bound to Mars. They are also two of the strangest moons in the Solar System.

For a start, they are tiny compared to their host—Phobos is just 20 kilometers across. They are much less dense than Mars and heavily cratered, suggesting a colorful past. They also have some peculiar features, such as the grooves on the surface of Phobos that stretch for over a kilometer.

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