The Moons of Mars Explained -- Phobos & Deimos MM#2

less than 1m read

·Nov 2, 2024

The moons of Mars explained. Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. They are really tiny. How tiny? Compared to Mars or our own moon, pretty tiny. Although, tiny is a matter of opinion. Their surface area is up close to some of the smallest states on Earth, like Luxembourg and Malta.

Although Phobos and Deimos are in no way lightweight, in reality, their gravitational pull isn't even strong enough to bring them into spherical form. So they look more like huge potatoes than moons. The most popular theory of their origin is that they were once part of the asteroid belt until Jupiter's massive gravity kicked them out of it.

So Mars could catch them. Phobos orbits Mars at an average distance of 9,400 kilometers, once every 7 and a half hours. It's on a collision course and gets 2 meters closer to Mars every year. In 50 to 100 million years, it will be either ripped to pieces by Mars' gravity and be transformed into a beautiful ring, or it will crash into Mars.

The energy released in this collision would kill everything on the small planet. So, if there are humans on Mars by then, they should build very strong bunkers. Smaller Deimos, on the other hand, is slowly escaping Mars. Eventually, it will fly off into space and leave a lonely red planet behind.

So, in a few hundred million years, Mars will be moonless and on its own. Unless, it manages to catch itself another asteroid.

English subtitles by Dan9er.

The Dangers of Oversharing | STOICISM

Tracking users on the Internet | Internet safety | Khan Academy

View All

Constant-pressure calorimetry | Thermodynamics | AP Chemistry | Khan Academy

Calorimetry refers to the measurement of heat flow, and a device that’s used to measure heat flow is called a calorimeter. An easy way to make a calorimeter is to use two coffee cups. So at the base here, we have one coffee cup, and then we can also use a…

Warren Buffett Explains How To Invest During High Inflation

Well, inflation it’s a really hot topic right now. We’ve seen the Fed saying this inflation we’re seeing now is short term, you know, nothing to worry about. Then, on the other hand, we’ve seen Warren Buffett talking about how he’s seeing big inflation th…

This one thing happens when you own a private jet...

Whatever you think you’re going to use when you own a plane, you will do it 50 to 80% more when you have that airplane. Cuz it’s just the ease of just calling up and saying, “I want to go tomorrow to such and such a place, and we’ll come back tomorrow ni…

Worked example: separable differential equation (with taking exp of both sides) | Khan Academy