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Astronomical objects discovered in 1877Moons of MarsMoons with a prograde orbitPhobos (moon)

Phobos (moon)

Adapted from Wikipedia · Explorer experience

A colorful photo of Phobos, one of Mars' moons, showing its largest crater named Stickney and surface details captured by a NASA spacecraft.

Meet Phobos, Mars' Special Moon

Phobos is one of the two moons that orbit the planet Mars. It was found in 1877 by an astronomer named Asaph Hall. Phobos is named after a Greek god who is the son of Ares, the god of war.

Phobos is a small and unusual moon. It is very close to Mars, only about 6,000 km away. This means it orbits Mars very quickly—in just 7 hours and 39 minutes! Because it moves so fast, Phobos appears to rise in the west and set in the east, which is the opposite of most moons.

The surface of Phobos is dark and does not reflect much sunlight. It has many craters, with the largest one named Stickney. Scientists think Phobos might be made of loose rocks held together, like a pile of rubble.

Phobos is also getting closer to Mars slowly, moving about 2 centimeters closer every year. Many spacecraft have taken pictures of Phobos while exploring Mars. In the future, scientists plan more missions to visit and study this interesting moon.

Images

A detailed view of Stickney crater on Phobos, one of Mars' moons, captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
A detailed map of Phobos, a moon of Mars, showing its surface features.
A detailed image of Phobos, one of Mars' moons, showing Peridier Crater in the Syrtis Major region, captured by the ESA Mars Express mission.
A digital model of the JAXA Mars Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft, designed for studying Mars' moons.
An artistic representation of a scientific base on the surface of Phobos, one of Mars' moons.
A colorful montage showing the planets in our solar system—Mercury, Venus, Earth with its Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—as captured by NASA spacecraft.
A stunning view of the planet Jupiter and its four largest moons — Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto — captured by the Voyager 1 spacecraft.
A colorful view of Pluto and its moon Charon, showing their varied landscapes as captured by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft.
An image of asteroid 243 Ida and its tiny moon Dactyl, taken by the Galileo spacecraft in 1993. This discovery helped scientists learn more about objects in space!
A detailed view of named craters on Phobos, one of Mars' moons, taken by NASA's HiRISE camera.
Animation showing the orbit of Phobos, one of Mars' moons, as seen from spacecraft orbiting the planet.
An animated illustration showing the moons of Mars orbiting the planet.

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Phobos (moon), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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