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Compared to the Earth's Moon, the moons Phobos and Deimos are small. Phobos has a diameter of 22.2 km (13.8 mi) and a mass of 1.08 × 10 16 kg, while Deimos measures 12.6 km (7.8 mi) across, with a mass of 1.5 × 10 15 kg.
Size comparison between Phobos, Deimos and the Moon (right) Deimos is a gray-colored body. Like most bodies of its size, Deimos is highly non-spherical with triaxial dimensions of 16.1 km × 11.8 km × 10.2 km (10.0 mi × 7.3 mi × 6.3 mi), corresponding to a mean diameter of 12.5 km (7.8 mi) which makes it about 57% the size of Phobos. [7]
Phobos is named after the Greek god of fear and panic, who is the son of Ares (Mars) and twin brother of Deimos. Phobos is a small, irregularly shaped object with a mean radius of 11 km (7 mi). It orbits 6,000 km (3,700 mi) from the Martian surface, closer to its primary body than any other known natural satellite to a planet.
Similarly, equatorial observers of Phobos would see a noticeably smaller angular diameter for Phobos when it is rising and setting, compared to when it is overhead. Phobos and Deimos from the Spirit rover. Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech. Observers on Mars can view transits of Phobos and transits of Deimos across the Sun.
A transit of Phobos from Mars usually lasts only thirty seconds or so, due to the moon's very rapid orbital period of approximately 7.6 hours. Because Phobos orbits close to Mars and in line with its equator, transits of Phobos occur somewhere on Mars on most days of the Martian year. Its orbital inclination is 1.08°, so the latitude of its ...
Once in Mars orbit, PADME would carry out 16 flybys of Phobos followed by 9 flybys of Deimos. [5] Flybys would take place at two-week intervals. Flyby altitudes at closest approach to Phobos and Deimos would be ~2 km. [5] Following completion of its primary mission, PADME could remain in high Mars orbit for long-term monitoring of the martian system and search for potential additional moonlets ...
Phobos' Stickney Crater Deimos (lower left) and Phobos (lower right) compared with the asteroid 951 Gaspra Phobos by Mars Global Surveyor in 1998 [49] There have also have been proposed missions dedicated to explore the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos. Many missions to Mars have also included dedicated observations of the moons, while this ...
A transit of Deimos from Mars lasts a maximum of about two minutes, due to its relatively rapid orbital period of about 30.3 hours.. Because they orbit Mars in low-inclination equatorial orbits, the shadows of Phobos or Deimos projected onto the surface of Mars exhibit a seasonal variation in latitude.