Phobos is the inner and larger of Mars' two moons. It is named for "fear" (Greek, Phobos, the son of Ares, who in turn was the god of war). Like Mimas a couple weeks ago, this moon suffered a collision earlier in its history that was very large compared to the moon itself, and as you can see from the fractures radiating from the large crater on the right limb, the moon was almost destroyed by the blast. Image from The Big Foto, where there are a number of other stunning pictures of this moon and a couple of Deimos as well.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Moonday: Phobos
Phobos is the inner and larger of Mars' two moons. It is named for "fear" (Greek, Phobos, the son of Ares, who in turn was the god of war). Like Mimas a couple weeks ago, this moon suffered a collision earlier in its history that was very large compared to the moon itself, and as you can see from the fractures radiating from the large crater on the right limb, the moon was almost destroyed by the blast. Image from The Big Foto, where there are a number of other stunning pictures of this moon and a couple of Deimos as well.
That's one of my favorite images of Phobos. The colored one you get off of the Mars HIRISE site is even better.
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