Universe SandboxGeneral CategoryAstronomy & ScienceMars' moons
Pages: 1
« previous next »
PrintPrint
Author Topic: Mars' moons  (Read 582 times)
phasma_phasmatis

**
Posts: 12
« on: May 09, 2011, 02:53:46 AM »
Could a large meteorite have hit Mars at one point in the past? The remnants of that event would explain how its moons formed. It could also explain what happened to its atmosphere. Could a collision with an object eject some of Mars' atmosphere?
« Last Edit: May 09, 2011, 03:20:13 PM by phasma_phasmatis » Logged
Bla
Global Moderator

*****
Posts: 764


The stars died so you could live.


WWW
« Reply #1 on: May 09, 2011, 09:33:37 AM »
Origin of Phobos
Origin of Deimos

It seems like one hypothesis is that the moons were captured from the asteroid belt. But another one is, as you suggest, that they were formed by an object colliding with Mars.
Logged
Naru523
Beta Team

*****
Posts: 1263


butterflies |ˈbətərˌflīs| (n.) A strong desire to screw over the Aeridani Union
« Reply #2 on: May 11, 2011, 07:10:15 PM »
As Bla said, most likely they came from the asteroid belt via Jupiter swinging them at Mars. Your suggestion does make a connection of the formation of our Moon, though.
Logged
echo17

*
Posts: 5
« Reply #3 on: May 12, 2011, 11:23:06 PM »
That's a big bounce, because the object that would of run into the earth would of been annihilated, unless you meant just saying that the similarities are intriguing.  the only way to know that for sure would be to take samples of Phobos and Deimos and then compare it to martian soil
Logged
Pages: 1
PrintPrint
« previous next »
Jump to: