Post by account_disabled on Aug 30, 2023 8:44:31 GMT
Phobos and Deimos look like asteroids, but a new study suggests they may be the sole survivors of a giant impact that produced many moons no longer in orbit.
Mars’ two small moons, Phobos and Deimos, were initially thought Switzerland Mobile Number List to be captured asteroids. However, a study published in Nature suggests an alternate explanation: a giant impact that created many moons, most of which have since fallen out of orbit. We speak with the lead author, Pascal Rosenblatt of the Royal Observatory of Belgium, about his findings.
ResearchGate: What prompted you to simulate a giant impact on Mars?
Pascal Rosenblatt: When I started working on the Martian moons, many scientists—if not all—thought that Phobos and Deimos were asteroids captured by Mars. But their opinion was actually built on the basis of inconclusive results.
The giant impact scenario had been proposed just once, and no one really paid attention to it. I thought it was time to make an update. So, I made the decision to take a deep look at this scenario in order to assess whether it was more or less conclusive than the capture scenario.
RG: What do your results tell you about the history of Martian moons?
Rosenblatt: Our results tell us that Phobos and Deimos could be formed by accretion of smaller pieces blasted into Mars’s orbit by a giant collision with a body about one third the size of Mars.
Mars’ two small moons, Phobos and Deimos, were initially thought Switzerland Mobile Number List to be captured asteroids. However, a study published in Nature suggests an alternate explanation: a giant impact that created many moons, most of which have since fallen out of orbit. We speak with the lead author, Pascal Rosenblatt of the Royal Observatory of Belgium, about his findings.
ResearchGate: What prompted you to simulate a giant impact on Mars?
Pascal Rosenblatt: When I started working on the Martian moons, many scientists—if not all—thought that Phobos and Deimos were asteroids captured by Mars. But their opinion was actually built on the basis of inconclusive results.
The giant impact scenario had been proposed just once, and no one really paid attention to it. I thought it was time to make an update. So, I made the decision to take a deep look at this scenario in order to assess whether it was more or less conclusive than the capture scenario.
RG: What do your results tell you about the history of Martian moons?
Rosenblatt: Our results tell us that Phobos and Deimos could be formed by accretion of smaller pieces blasted into Mars’s orbit by a giant collision with a body about one third the size of Mars.