yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

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.

More Articles

View All
2017 AP Calculus AB/BC 4c | AP Calculus AB solved exams | AP Calculus AB | Khan Academy
Let’s now tackle part C, which tells us that for T is less than 10, an alternate model for the internal temperature of the potato at time T minutes is the function G that satisfies the differential equation: The derivative of G with respect to T is equal…
Meet Sean, a creator of AP Physics on Khan Academy | AP Physics 1 | Khan Academy
I have taught AP Physics classes for the last seven years: AP Physics 1, AP Physics B back in the day, and AP Physics C now. I try to make my lessons personable, relate to the student, and offer them real-life examples where things happen. But I also focu…
Going Through Hell (and Outsmarting the Devil)
What is hell? Is it a physical place that we go to in order to receive punishment? Or is it, perhaps, a human experience that our ancestors have tried to explain by using metaphors of terrifying worlds of torture? Many people these days would argue agains…
Scenes From Nigeria’s Baby Boom | Podcast | Overheard at National Geographic
Foreign when I first got this assignment, I think my first thought was, “Oh no, how am I going to do this?” Yagazi Amazi is a Nigerian photographer and a National Geographic Explorer. Last year, Nat Geo asked her to photograph Nigeria’s population, which…
Natural hazards | Earth and society | Middle school Earth and space science | Khan Academy
Before I go to a new place, I tried to do some thorough research about it. What do I want to do there? What’s the weather forecast? What’s the chance that it might erupt? I learned this the hard way recently while preparing for a trip to Mount Rainier Nat…
Ask Sal Anything! Homeroom with Sal - Tuesday, October 19
Hi everyone, welcome to today’s homeroom live stream. Uh, today it’s just going to be me, so we’re going to do another ask me anything. So if you have any questions for me, literally about anything, start putting them on the message boards on Facebook or …