One summer night in 1877, American astronomer Asaph Hall looked through a Washington telescope, DC Mars was at the closest point to Earth in orbit, and Hall had one question in his mind. Does the Red Planet have a Moon?
After searching multiple times in the thick fog, the hall found not only one but two moons. He named the Greek mythological “terror” and “panic” twins, whose parents are Ares and Aphrodite (Mars and Venus in Roman mythology). But these moons look very different from our own — and scientists still have many questions about their origins.
“Fovo and Deimos are part of the smallest moons in our solar system,” Christopher S. Edwards, professor of astronomy and planetary science at Northern Arizona University, told Live Science in an email.
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Compared to our moon, which is 2,159 miles (3,475 km) wide, Fobo and Deimos are small spots in the sky. On average, the Phobos is 14 miles (22 km) wide, while the Deimos is even smaller, about 7 miles (12 km) on average. The width is inconsistent as these two small moons are not completely round.
“They’re kind of bumpy, potato shaped, and they’re really, really dark, like the brightness of a new asphalt,” Edwards explained.
The moon is defined as a naturally formed body that perpetually orbits a planet. However, due to their irregular shape and miniature size, many scientists say that Fobo and Deimos look more like asteroids than the moon.
It is possible that the Mars moon was originally an asteroid captured by the gravitational gravitation of the planet. There is also the theory that two moons were created after a large object collided with Mars, creating fragments that form the body of the two moons, just as how the Earth’s moon forms. Both of these hypotheses are controversial.
Related: How many moons are there in the solar system?
“How the Martian moon was formed is a major unresolved issue for science,” Nancy Chabot, chief scientist at the Space Exploration Division at Johns Hopkins’ Institute of Applied Physics, told Live Science in an email.
For now, there is evidence on both sides. Although visible and short-wave infrared spectral analysis of the moon refers to compositions consistent with asteroids, it is also difficult to explain the physics behind Mars. This is because Mars has a relatively weak gravitational pull, and the shape and position of the two moon orbitals are difficult to achieve through asteroid capture. Edwards added that data from the Hope Emirates Mars Mission suggests that the two months have slightly different compositions and even more complicated.
But future missions to Mars may soon provide more answers. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission to be released in 2026 will travel to Mars to explore the two moons, then return to Earth from Phobos to bring samples into the world.
“Jacusa’s MMX mission is very exciting and set up to be the first to unravel the mysteries of Martian satellites, including answering how they were formed,” Chabot said.
Analyzing the composition of this sample helps to clarify the origins of Phobo and Deimos, as the once asteroid Moon has a very different chemical composition than the moon formed from the early Martian masses.
If Phobos samples show that a moon formed from a collision with Mars has formed, it can open the door to even more exciting discoveries. In that case, the sample was able to shed light on whether the early red planets had the potential to be extraterrestrial.
“These may actually be samples of early Mars,” Edwards said.
Mars Quiz: Do you have any knowledge about the Red Planets from this world?
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